New Board Chair
Will Continue
Regis Transformation
It is called “the Regis College turnaround” in
a book by Terrence MacTaggart, and indeed the
Regis of 2011 is very different from the Regis of 2001.
MacTaggart’s recent book, Academic Turnarounds:
Restoring Vitality to Challenged American Colleges
and Universities, documents the schools that have
Cherlie Normilus, one of the Haiti Project leaders, receiving the Brigham
and Women’s Hospital Ujima Award for her service in nursing.

4

reinvented themselves to survive meaningfully
in our times.
The strengthened Regis College that has emerged

REGIS TODAY

Haiti Nursing
Project Funded

during the first decade of the 21st century could not
have occurred without the extraordinary support
of the Board of Trustees, particularly its willingness
to press onward with change by taking strategic,
calculated risks.
The commitment of several board chairs to the
mission and identity of the college guaranteed
our transformation, and the College owes Sylvia
Simmons, Brian Rothwell, and Ellen M. O’Connor ’67

Bill Clinton and the former prime minister of Haiti are
cochairing a commission that helps identify exceptionally worthwhile projects for the reconstruction of Haiti,
and a Regis project has made the list.
The Regis College International Nurse Faculty Partnership, or Haiti Project, addresses the urgent need for
more-and better-trained nurses in a country ravaged by
last year’s devastating earthquake.
A unique partnership among the Regis School of
Nursing, Science, and Health Professions; the Haitian
Ministry of Health; nursing school leaders in Haiti; and
the Boston-based medical charity Partners in Health
will provide long-term, advanced training for nursing
faculty in Haiti.
“Thanks to Partners in Health and the generosity of
the Ansara Family Fund and our other donors, we are
finally able to tackle the long-term nursing challenges
in Haiti,” said Dean Antoinette Hays. “The project
supports a sequencing of some classes in Haiti, some
online, and some during a summer residency on the
Regis campus. The initiative also looks to develop a
master’s program in nursing with a focus on leadership
and education for nursing faculty in Haiti.”
The more than $600,000 pledged to the project will
help to improve the quality of nursing education, nursing, and ultimately health care in Haiti. Regis is providing $550,000 of in-kind services to launch the project.

great gratitude.
Now board leadership has passed to a new chair,
Donna Norris. A graduate of Fisk University, Dr. Norris
took her medical degree at Ohio State University in
1969. She is now assistant clinical professor at Harvard
University Medical School, where she is a practitioner
of child, adolescent, adult, and
forensic psychiatry. She has
been a member of the Regis
College Board since 2008.
“I am thrilled at the selection
of Dr. Norris to lead the Regis
board,” said outgoing chair
Ellen M. O'Connor. “Donna has
been an active, astute participant in board decision making
and is well prepared to guide the College toward
completion of its transformative case for growth.”
President Mary Jane England noted, “I have known
and respected Donna Norris for her professional
insight and integrity for three decades. I am encouraged that her leadership will continue to build the
future of the College as a multigenerational and
multicultural learning community in an increasingly
global Greater Boston.”

5
SPRING 11

Color is Key
Cathleen Daley's four large-scale installations, called
"Arrivals and Departures," fill Carney Gallery in the Fine Arts
Center with color. They are Daley's response to the 2008
Kathleen Dooher

Sichuan earthquake, which she describes as "the immense,
the immeasurable, the immutable, and the immediate."

Global Initiatives Take Students to Peru
Villa El Salvador is an extremely impoverished 30-year-old coastal
squatter’s village of about 400,000 residents outside of Lima, Peru.
Since 2007, Regis students and faculty have been traveling there as
an alternative spring break experience, providing health care for this
underserved global patient population. Led by Professor Nancy Bittner,
assistant dean of SNSHP, and Lisa Fardy, nursing faculty, this year
they worked in health clinics and helped teach residents how to make
water safe for drinking and cooking and procedures for caring for loved
ones at home. The students completed health assessments and assisted
with treatments and nursing interventions. As one student put it: “You
had to be there to understand the depth of this experience, and how it
has changed the way I look at my own life and how fortunate we all are.”

Forging the Future

Internships take friends directly into the workplace
by patricia dibona

6
REGIS TODAY

They met as freshmen in calculus class. Yash
Shah was among the college’s first male students,
undaunted by his pioneering role and supremely
confident in his mathematical abilities. So the
Walpole resident and native of Gujarat, India,
was shocked when a fresh-faced nursing major
and former Arlington Catholic High hockey player
outsmarted him. “She was my competition,” Shah
laughs about Elizabeth Lawlor.
Four years later, the Regis seniors’ playful early
rivalry has deepened into a comfortable and respectful friendship. The two shine as leaders on campus,
where class vice president Lawlor is a resident
assistant at College Hall and commuter Shah excels
in multiple sports and on the Tower Activity Board.
They also juggle demanding part-time jobs, internships, and clinical experiences, all the while maintaining dean’s list status. And they still find time to
hang out.
Both students have bright futures—and secure
jobs upon graduation thanks to their internships.
Lawlor has been hired as a certified nursing assistant at Children’s Hospital Boston. She’ll take her
nursing boards this summer. Shah, an information
systems major and management minor, will begin
training in Fidelity Investment’s highly competitive
Leap Program.
Though Lawlor’s internship led directly to her
job offer, Lawlor has experienced nursing clinical
rotations in cardiology at Tufts Medical Center, in
medical-surgical and maternity at Newton Wellesley
Hospital, in psychiatry at Metro West Medical
Center, and in school nursing at a Needham elementary school. But it was Children’s Hospital Boston
that stole her heart.
“My clinical was on 9 East, an inpatient unit for
children with many different problems,” says Lawlor.
When her rotation ended, she applied for and was

hired there as a certified nursing assistant. Lawlor
currently works two 12-hour shifts every four weeks.
She’s also part of an elite one-on-one program at
Children’s that allows her to work independently
with an experienced nurse preceptor.
“Liz epitomizes what a Regis nursing student
should be,” says Diane Welsh, DNP, APRN, CNE,
associate professor of nursing and coordinator of
maternal child health at Regis. “She believes in
helping people and always has a smile on her face.
Despite her hectic schedule, Liz goes out of her way
to tutor and mentor younger nursing students. They
rave about her.”
Welsh says nurses from all over the world vie for
positions at Children’s. “That Liz could be hired while
still a student and also be accepted into the preceptor
program says so much about her.”
Lawlor stresses that she gets as much as she
gives from those she cares for, whether it’s one of
her babysitting charges, a pediatric patient, or one
of her long-term Children’s Hospital patients: “The
kids with cystic fibrosis know so much about their
condition. They teach me.”
During her senior spring break, Lawlor traveled
to the impoverished village of Villa El Salvador,
Peru, on a community service mission. She is the
first recipient of the Lynn Tripp Coleman Grace and
Dedication Distinction honoring the college’s beloved
vice president of student affairs, who died in 2010.
Shah also recognized the importance of college
and community involvement early on. He has played
tennis, lacrosse, and volleyball and run track, competing in two of these sports simultaneously. He has
also assistant coached the girls’ tennis team while
rehabbing a torn ACL.
Shah’s tech savvy and charming grin made him a
popular work-study student with Regis’s Information
Technology Services. He manned the help desk and

taking

action

Both students
have bright

futures —

and secure jobs
upon graduation.

Kathleen Dooher

troubleshot computer issues for students and staff.
Shah also redesigned the Regis College website
protocol, created the Tower Activity Board’s Facebook
and Twitter accounts, and handled layout for the
Class of 2011 yearbook.
With this ambitious mindset, Shah applied to
Fidelity Investments in 2010 hoping to build his
professional network. Following several intense
telephone interviews, Shah was hired as a quality
assurance tester the summer of his junior year,
sight unseen. “I got to the World Trade Center in
Boston for training and was the only intern who
had never seen the place,” Shah laughs. The threemonth internship stretched to five after Shah’s
supervisor persuaded him to stay on.
Shah left Fidelity to spend winter break in India,
but his connection with the online brokerage firm
continues. He accepted a full-time position with
Fidelity’s Leap Program that will begin in July 2011.
He is the first Regis student to be chosen for this

SPRING 11

Upon graduation, Liz Lawlor will become a certified nursing
assistant at Children’s Hospital, and Yash Shah will join Fidelity
Investment’s Leap Program.

prestigious technical training program.
According to Fidelity’s website, Leap is
designed to accelerate the development
of recent information technology graduates to become best-in-class software
developers, systems analysts, infrastructure engineers, mainframe developers,
or quality assurance engineers.
“I’ll spend three months in a classroom developing technical, business,
and professional skills and three months
working on a case study or project that
I’ll present,” says Shah. After completing the program, he’ll be placed in a role
best suited to his interests and skills.
James Lane, MS, lecturer in business management
at Regis and department chair, says Fidelity and
other internship providers give students invaluable
exposure. He says Shah appreciated and took advantage of every learning opportunity. He describes him
as “intelligent, articulate, and thoughtful.” Shah,
he says, is a dynamic student in the classroom, a
consummate professional at work, and a regular guy
who knows how to have fun. “He’s a superior young
man, a born leader who will go very far in life.”
When questioned about his five-year-plan, Shah
doesn’t hesitate. He sees himself making a good
salary as an information systems consultant with a
Fortune 500 company. Lawlor also answers readily. She hopes to be working as a registered nurse
at Children’s Hospital and completing her master’s
degree in nursing at Regis.
The two friends and Boston sports fans also plan to
continue hanging out ... and say they wouldn’t mind
catching a Bruins or Celtics game together.

7

“We’ll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good … even grief
recedes with time and grace. But our resolve must not pass. Each of us
will remember what happened that day, and to whom it happened. We’ll
remember the moment the news came — where we were and what we
were doing. Some will remember an image of a fire, or a story of rescue.
Some will carry memories of a face or a voice gone forever.”

8

President George W. Bush, 20 September 2001

Nothing But Blue Sky

REGIS TODAY

By Joanne Crowley ’74

As we approach the 10th Anniversary of September
11th, two thoughts come to mind. The first is the
ever-constant memory of incredibly kind, hard working, dedicated, and brave colleagues and friends.
Most of them survived that day, but some did not.
The second is that I will never be able to trust an
absolutely clear, beautiful blue sky again.
At 8:00 a.m., my day began just like it did every
second Tuesday of the month. I was enjoying breakfast at the World Trade Center with my fellow deputy
directors of The Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey. At the time, I was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the tunnels, bridges, and
terminals department, which included the George
Washington Bridge, Holland and Lincoln Tunnels,
Port Authority Bus Terminal, and three Staten
Island bridges.
It was a standing meeting among the four of
us so that we could share information relating
to our respective business areas in this large and
very complex government agency, which owned
and operated the World Trade Center; Newark,
LaGuardia, and JFK Airports; the Port of New York
marine terminals; PATH commuter railroad; and,
my favorites, the tunnels and bridges connecting
New York City with New Jersey (and the rest of
the continental United States!) and The Port
Authority Bus Terminal.
Yes, it was all about office buildings, trains,
planes, cars, trucks, buses, ships and ferries,
but most importantly it was about people: the

millions we served every day and our employees.
And on that awful morning every single one of
them was changed forever.
At exactly 8:46:40, as detailed in the 9/11
Commission Report, our meeting was interrupted.
We didn’t feel anything, but we could see, through
the opening of the restaurant, absolute chaos on the
World Trade Center concourse at street level. People
running, screaming, crying, and bleeding. We all
jumped up and quickly determined that whatever “it”
was, it was not good. Blackberries and cell phones
immediately began to ring. I tried, without success,
to contact my office on the 64th floor. Plan B was to
get to the Holland Tunnel administration building
in New Jersey, my nearest facility, to establish a
temporary communication and command center for
the department.
I stepped outside onto Vesey Street and my heart
began to race. Trembling, I walked on shards of
glass and over debris. I looked straight up and could
see flames and smoke bursting from the very top
of Tower 1. I immediately texted my staff, many of
whom had already evacuated via the stairwells, but
to my surprise 12 remained. Although I told them to
leave, they had received conflicting instructions from
the police, and so they stayed. Ten of them perished
that day, but miraculously two survived the collapse
of the tower.
I began to walk as quickly as I could toward the
tunnel, but stopped when I heard the roar of the
second plane. I looked up and, at exactly 9:03:11,

9
SPRING 11

watched in horror as it slammed into and through
Tower 2.
At the Holland Tunnel the calls were coming in
so quickly from almost every law enforcement agency
in the region directing us to open the Lincoln, close
the George, evacuate the bus terminal, close the
Staten Island bridges! That actually was the easy
part. The real challenge was trying to determine how
many of the 150 staff on the 64th floor had made it
to safety. We also needed to know the status of our
police officers who had rushed into the Trade Center.
As the days and weeks progressed these lists were
the most difficult to bear as names of the missing and
dead began to surface. The Port Authority family lost
87 staff that day. I lost some very close friends. I
still see their faces and hear their voices. We also

We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel anything, but we could
see

absolute chaos on

the World Trade Center concourse.
lost our home. The World Trade Center was a very
special place.
As I reflect now, while writing this little story
about a very big story, some simple things for me
have changed forever. The first things I look for in
a restaurant, movie theater, school, office building,
hotel, or museum are the evacuation routes and exit
signs. And, of course, that crystal clear blue sky has
a different meaning for me today.

innovations
academic

College Appeals
Court Ruling on Expansion
by Marjorie Arons Barron

10
REGIS TODAY

Last year, the Land Court denied Regis College’s
request to expand into its east campus in order to
create a diverse educational community for senior
adults. The College has now taken two appellate
actions to overturn the adverse decision. In addition
to filing its brief with the state Appeals Court, Regis
has also asked the Supreme Judicial Court for a
direct review of the matter, and the SJC has agreed
to review it.
When the Land Court made its decision, many
at Regis were surprised at the outcome because
the state’s Dover Amendment was designed to
protect educational and religious organizations
from unreasonable local zoning regulations. In its
January 2010 decision, for the first time the Land
Court disregarded Dover, its legislative history,
and the cases interpreting it, as applied to private,
nonprofit colleges.
The College’s plan to create Regis East, a diverse
educational community for senior adults, is an educational use according to the College, and thus should
be exempted from unreasonable Weston zoning bylaws, which now restrict any building on the 60 acres
of undeveloped College-owned land to single-family
residences. Regis East is planned as a community for
seniors that will provide for independent living, the
security of health care as needed, and a customized
academic program for each resident in a meaningful lifelong learning experience. Regis East will be
fully integrated academically with the west campus.
Students and seniors will use the entire campus to
further their educational growth.
The College says the Land Court erred in concluding that, because Regis East will generate income
and provide senior housing, it cannot also have
an education purpose as envisioned by the Dover
Amendment. Regis’s request to the Supreme Judicial
Court for direct appellate review is to reaffirm the
Court’s prior interpretation of the Dover Amendment,

clarify its definition of educational purposes, and
affirm the value of intergenerational educational
settings to meet the needs of our society’s rapidly
shifting demographics.
The Regis East proposal calls for several buildings to be built on Regis property on the east side of
Wellesley Street in Weston. Plans include children’s
classrooms, classrooms for lifelong learning and
college uses, computer labs, libraries, and clinical
teaching space. Also included are up to 362 residential living units for seniors, all linked to the education resources of the existing campus. Each resident
would have an individualized learning plan and be
required to take at least two courses each semester, four courses each year. Regis East will provide
internships to Regis students in gerontology, social
work, and management. Students at all levels of
nursing education will have rotation opportunities
on the East Campus.
“Multigenerational learning is nothing new to
Regis,” said President Mary Jane England. “We’ve
had preschoolers, our older nontraditional Heritage
Scholars, and hundreds of senior learners in LLARC,
Lifelong Learning at Regis College. In addition to
our anticipated appeal, we are also asking the state’s
highest court to recognize the educational purpose of
Regis East, whose residents will be age 55 and up.
We are asking that the court apply the standards
of the Dover Amendment as they have been applied
consistently over many decades so that Regis College
can fulfill its educational mission.
“Education is defined differently for different age
groups,” she added, “and education itself is evolving
in new forms in the 21st century, especially to meet
the needs of our society’s rapidly shifting demographics. Our senior scholars will be eligible to obtain
certificates, bachelor’s and master’s or post-graduate
degrees, or, just as undergraduate students may do,
audit courses.”

11
SPRING 11

The College’s plan to
create Regis East, a

diverse
educational
community

for senior adults, is an
educational use and
should be exempted
from unreasonable
Weston zoning by-laws.
Regis East residents will have opportunities to
tutor and mentor undergraduate students in fields
in which the senior scholars have expertise.
Regis East is a logical extension of Regis’s historic
mission, which has a major emphasis on preparing students for the caring professions. According
to Antoinette Hays, dean of the School of Nursing,
Sciences, and Health Professions, “Students at all
levels of nursing education will have rotation opportunities on the East Campus, helping us address
the critical shortage of convenient internships for
one of the fastest-growing nursing programs in
Massachusetts. Regis East will play a significant

role in educating faculty and students in the
field of gerontology, a field of increasing importance
as our population ages. Regis East will also offer
internships to students in social work, psychology,
and management.”
No court in Massachusetts has ever before
rejected Dover use protection for a nonprofit
educational corporation on the basis that
the project provides a revenue stream to the
institution, according to the Regis College
appeal. If such were the case, almost no college
expansion project would be protected under
Dover, the appeal explained.

12
REGIS
Kathleen Dooher

Lucia Ortiz
celebrates the
African inďŹ&#x201A;uence
on Latin America

Growing up in Colombia, Spanish professor Lucia Ortiz
was completely unaware of the “invisible” population
who contributed so much to her country’s lush identity and
culture. Then she discovered Changó, the Biggest Badass.
The historical novel by Afro-Colombian author Manuel
Zapata Olivella, published in 1983 and widely considered to
be a masterpiece, tells the story of the African diaspora in
the Americas over a period of five centuries, from the slave
trade in western Africa through the civil rights movement
in the United States, with special attention to its impact on

By Kim Asch

SPRING 11

Latin America.

13

Ortiz was at Boston University, working on her dissertation about Colombian history as seen through late 20th-century literature, when she first read the 500-page
epic. She learned about her country’s age-old mistreatment of Afro-Colombians, the
blacks whose ancestors were brought as slaves in the 1700s to work the mines or in
the sugarcane fields. And she realized just how much of her country’s customs, foods,
and traditions are influenced by African, as well as indigenous and Spanish, cultures.
“The author concludes that all Latin Americans are a ‘hybrid’ being, part indigenous, part Spanish, part African,” says Ortiz. “I was just fascinated by it. It was not
anything I learned in school.”
Because so much of African culture has melded with Colombian culture, the pervading view is that Colombia is integrated and discrimination does not exist, Ortiz
explains. In fact, she says, Afro-descendents of Colombian society have been “made
invisible.” For example, Cumbia music, now considered representative of the country, started as a courtship dance among the slave population living along eastern
Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The distinctive African drumbeats later mixed with
strains of Spanish guitar and the melodic pipes of indigenous pre-Colombians and
became a truly multicultural art form. “People think, ‘We dance Cumbia. We’re not
racist,’ ” Ortiz says. “But it’s not true; you see racism at all levels. The degrees of skin
pigmentation were always very important, and are still very important.”

14
REGIS TODAY

Rural Afro-Colombian communities along the
Pacific and Caribbean coasts continue to face “pervasive, systemic discrimination” despite sweeping
legislation adopted in 1993 aimed at protecting their
territorial rights, according to a report issued by the
Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the
University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Ortiz was determined to shine a light on this important, if uncomfortable, aspect of her country’s identity—through novels, poetry, and oral history. She
included a chapter on Changó in her first book, and
then assembled and edited a collection of scholarly
articles about little-known works of Afro-Colombian
literature that was published in Spanish in 2007 with
her lengthy introduction. It was an academic success,
but the kind of expensive tome that might reach only
highly educated audiences. Ortiz remembers marveling with her collaborators: “Here we are writing about
people who aren’t privileged and who face so many
issues every day, yet other people can’t learn about
them because the books are so expensive. What are
we doing writing only to each other?”
Her latest book, due out this summer, is both a
commiseration and a celebration of the challenges
and triumphs experienced by women of African
descent from all over Latin America. Daughters of
the Muntu: Critical Biographies of Afro-Descendent
Women from Latin America, coedited by Ortiz and
Maria M. Jaramillo, comprises 34 articles and essays
and will be published in Spanish by a commercial
house in Bogotá. The English translation is expected
soon after.

far away as possible,” she says. Many peers choosing
to study abroad settled on the more familiar Miami
area, but Ortiz was drawn to upstate New York
because she thought its proximity to Canada might
offer the chance to explore yet another country. To
her delight, she discovered a richly diverse international community right on campus and befriended
Saudis and Africans and Europeans. “They came
with their costumes and their traditions, and we all
shared the challenge of trying to communicate and
adapt to a new culture together.”
While studying for a bachelor’s degree in international relations, she learned to view political and
social systems with a critical eye. She also began
examining her own culture through Spanish literature courses and gaining new insights about her
country’s multicultural identity. She was loath to
return to Colombia following graduation in 1984
because, she says, “I knew I wouldn’t have the independence, or the freedom I was able to gain, to pursue the future I could have here.” So she stayed on
at Syracuse and earned a master’s degree in Spanish
language, literature, and culture before moving on to
the PhD program at Boston University. “Sometimes
it was hard to be away from home, to be alone,” she
says. “But I took every opportunity that came along.”
At Regis, Ortiz is the adviser for the Latin
American Student Association and serves as “a role
model of a successful immigrant, which is extremely
important” for the College’s vibrant community of
first-generation Americans, says Spanish department colleague Mary-Anne Vetterling. She lists her

“You see racism at all levels. The degrees of skin pigmentation
were always very important, and are still very important.”
“With this book, we were able to get closer to
the people,” says Ortiz, who traveled to Colombia,
Mexico, and Puerto Rico to conduct her research.
“Through the process of gathering their stories, I
learned so much about the impact of these women
on Latin American culture.”
Ortiz counts herself lucky to have been raised
by forward-thinking Colombian parents who wanted
their two daughters to go far in their education.
At 18, she lobbied them to send her to the United
States to study English; she was supposed to be
gone only one year, but instead enrolled at Syracuse
University and never returned to her native country
for longer than a visit.
“I grew up in a very small town, with all the issues
you face as a young woman in a small, conservative, Catholic town. I was eager to leave, to get as

good friend’s accomplishments: Ortiz is a full professor, having received that title at a fairly young age
in her career, and serves as department chair; she
has become an American citizen; she’s received the
prestigious Virginia Kaneb Faculty Scholars Grant
not just once, but three times, to support expenses
associated with researching her books.
Known for her intellectual rigor and the high standards she sets for both herself and her students, Ortiz
can often be overheard around the Spanish department assessing, with certain zeal, the montonón de
trabajo, or huge mountain of work, awaiting her.
Ortiz’s work on the forefront of the emerging
field of Afro-Colombian literature, and the still
narrower field of Afro-Latina literature, is well
recognized, and she was even invited to a reception
with Colombia’s president.

Black Singer
Could Not Overcome
Virginia Murature, an aspiring
Argentine singer and actress, had
high hopes. But she also had a disadvantage few other artists did in
Buenos Aires in the 1980s and 1990s,
according to an essay by Adriana
Genta in Lucia Ortiz’s upcoming
book, Daughters of the Muntu: Critical
Biographies of Afro-Descendent
Women from Latin America.

There are few
images of Virginia
Murature, who
killed herself in
1990. This is a
shot of her as
a child, in her
Communion dress.

Murature was black. She supported
herself by day working as an administrative assistant, but after hours, she
practiced her craft, rehearsed her lines,
and won parts—often minor—in
stage works. Most of the theatrical
presentations crafted or produced in
Argentina had few opportunities for
black performers.
Perseverance paid off for Murature, and
she rejoiced when she told friends she was
finally able to quit her day job and devote
herself entirely to the theater she so loved.
The emancipation was short-lived. She
struggled to win parts.
Adriana Genta recounts how she lost contact
with Murature, but when, in the early 1990s, a
theatrical group prepared to put on a production about the struggle among black Argentine
slaves to win their freedom, she immediatley
thought of Murature.
Genta tracked down an aunt and inquired
about Murature’s whereabouts. “Virginia?” the
aunt asked. “Virginia gave up hope.”
Murature in 1990 had thrown herself beneath
the wheels of a train and had been killed
instantly. She’d tired of waiting for the ideal role
for a black actress—or, for that matter, of directors who insisted on casting her only in the role
of a black actress.
The play went on. Women, black and white,
Argentine, Uruguayan, and Chilean, worked at
the script and the production and made a triumphant debut in April 1995. The subject of the
production, the labor of women united despite
their differences of race and nationality, was
a constant reminder of the open wounds that
Murature’s heartbreak and demise had left.

15
SPRING 11

“Lucia is one of the primary movers and
shakers in the study of Afro-Hispanic women
on a lot of fronts. She’s just very active in making
things happen,” says Jonathan Tittler, a professor
of Hispanic studies at Rutgers University whose
English translation of Changó, the Biggest Badass
was published last year. “It’s a very small field of
study, and she’s carrying the banner.”
But Vetterling observes, “She’s very modest
and very serious. She’s not one of these people
seeking fame through her work. She wants the
publicity to be appropriate so that it helps the
Afro-Colombians, as well as the Afro-Hispanics,
whom she’s studying in order to make their
lives better.”
Ortiz says she hopes that her upcoming book
circulates widely among a general audience and
raises awareness about the triumphs and challenges
of so many Latino women of African descent.
Among the compelling stories is a piece by
the well-known Afro–Puerto Rican writer Mayra
Santos-Febres about Ruth Fernández, a Puerto
Rican singer and media celebrity during the first
half of the 20th century. She was one of the first
women to sing in an all-male band and the first
Afro–Puerto Rican to appear on TV. She came from
a poor home in a region of mostly black Puerto
Ricans, which at the time was extremely segregated, yet she refused to enter clubs and hotels
through the back or kitchen door and entered
through their main door with her head held high.
A first-person essay by Epsy Campbell Barr,
who lived in the region of Limón in Costa Rica
relegated to Afro–Costa Ricans, describes how
the extreme poverty and lack of basic resources
that people were forced to endure prompted her to
become an activist and politician and make a run
for the presidency of Costa Rica.
“This represented a huge challenge since in Costa
Rica most people look up to whites and people of
Spanish descent and reject Afros and the idea that
they are part of their country and their culture,”
Ortiz explains.
Most of the writings deal with women of the
20th century, but a few give Afro-descendent women
from colonial times their due, including Dominican
poet Salome Urena, whose sons became prominent
intellectuals but whose own work never made it into
the anthologies. Perhaps that will someday change.
“It’s been a wonderful journey,” Ortiz says of this
latest project, and of her own life thus far.
She’s also inclined to agree with one of her favorite writers, Colombia’s own Nobel laureate Gabriel
García Márquez, who once said, “Justice … limps
along, but it gets there all the same.”

Sizing Up
16
REGIS TODAY

Arsenic
Arsenic is colorless and odorless, and
the only way to know if it's in the drinking
water is to test for it. The color in this
photo illustration is for effect only.

How much of this deadly killer
is safe in drinking water?

Today Kozul-Horvath is a postdoctoral
fellow at Dartmouth Medical School,
with a PhD from Dartmouth College
in pharmacology and toxicology. Her
research on the effects of low-level arsenic in drinking water has been making
headlines since early in her graduate
studies, and she has just won the Karen
Wetterhahn Award from the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
She writes prolifically about her research (her
résumé is a solid seven pages of publications,
awards, and presentations), and she is in
demand as a speaker both among her academic
peers and in the public, informing citizens
about arsenic exposure through contaminated
drinking water in their wells.
So how did she go from dancing in The
Nutcracker to being keynote speaker at the
Superfund Research Program annual meeting?
Well, it began with a fractured fibula. During
that performance, she suffered an overuse injury
that required surgery and extensive recuperation. Her father encouraged her to take classes
while she recovered, and so she enrolled in

by
rachel
Morton

Emmanuel College,
making up some science
courses she’d missed
during her dancefocused early education.
She did her academic
work with as much
intensity as she did her dance. “I have this
personality,” she laughs, “when I do something,
I have to do it one hundred percent.” She found
that not only was she doing very well, but she
was also really loving it. So she applied to Regis
and was accepted as a Presidential Scholar. She
enrolled as a sophomore and declared herself a
nursing major.
“I was so naïve. I didn’t even know you could
do research. I thought you’d either be a nurse or
a doctor.” But her teachers saw her intellectual
potential and her drive, and they encouraged her
to take more science classes and gently pushed
her to think beyond nursing.
Professor Mike Bilozur, who later became
her major adviser, says Kozul-Horvath was “one
of the best students I’ve ever had the pleasure
to teach.”
He remembers her preparing for a seminar on
a topic she didn’t have the course work in yet.
He expected she’d need some help filling in the
details, “but to my surprise she had only one
question on a technical detail. She had such a
good understanding of the scientific literature.
That really struck me.”

17
SPRING 11

Ten years ago, Courtney Kozul-Horvath was on stage, dancing
with the Boston Ballet—one of many young dancers hoping to make
her entry into the highly competitive world of professional ballet.
Kozul-Horvath ’06 had good reason to think she’d go on to a dance
career. She was a recent graduate and valedictorian from the National
Ballet School of Canada, an elite boarding high school for some of the
most talented young dancers from around the world. Her mother was
a ballet dancer. Her grandmother owned a dance school.
On that fateful day, she could never have imagined that one day,
her stage would be even bigger than the Wang Center in Boston. Or
that scientific research, not dance, would be the focus of her life.

18
REGIS TODAY

Her teachers saw something in her that she
herself wasn’t even aware of at the time. “At
Regis, my teachers took the time to care about
me,” Kozul-Horvath remembers. With the help of
Professor Anne Powers, Kozul-Horvath snagged an
internship her junior year at the rapidly growing
genetics firm Genzyme.
“This was a very prestigious internship,” says
Powers, “and I just remember how pleased Genzyme
was with Courtney
and her work.” So
pleased that they
offered her a position her senior year
at Regis. She worked
at Genzyme while
completing her senior
year, providing herself
with an important
mentor and an impressive credit on her academic resume. After
graduating from Regis
in 2006 in three years
as valedictorian of
her class, she entered
the doctoral program
at Dartmouth.
Most of the graduate
students at Dartmouth
and other prestigious
doctoral programs in
pharmacology come
from big colleges with
big research facilities,
not small liberal arts
colleges like Regis.
“I totally credit the
biology faculty for
getting me here,” she
said. “I applied to all the top programs in pharmacology in the Northeast and was accepted at all of them.”
Since Kozul-Horvath tends to do things in superdrive, she tore through the doctoral program in
record time. Graduate students usually get their doctorates in about six years, on average. Kozul-Horvath
got hers in three and a half. And in those three and
a half years, she also got married and had a baby. “I
defended my dissertation when I was eight months
pregnant,” she admits with a smile. She is married
to Ryan Horvath, who is completing a joint MD-PhD
program at Dartmouth, and their daughter, Avery, is
one year old.
She secured a grant after her doctorate to continue
her research and is now finishing her first year as

So how did
she go from
dancing in The
Nutcracker to
being keynote
speaker at
the Superfund
Research
Program?

Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth. She has joined a
lab that studies the immunology of influenza infections and is partially supported by the Dartmouth
Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program. She is
continuing to focus her attention on a substance most
people don’t even know is a problem: arsenic.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance that has an
interesting history. It has been a poison and a health

aid. It’s been used in wallpaper and in pesticides.
It was a favorite poison for generations of mystery
writers—think Arsenic and Old Lace—because it is
colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It used to be widely
available and was even used in various health products before it was recognized as a health hazard.
“People took it as a remedy,” says Kozul-Horvath,
“as a tonic called Fowlers Solution. In the form of
arsenic trioxide, arsenic is currently being used as a
successful chemotherapeutic for certain forms of leukemia. In some aspects it can be used to cure cancer.
But it is also documented as a human carcinogen. It’s
a very interesting area of study.”
The industrial use of arsenic has decreased over
the last decade. However, arsenic remains a major
environmental health concern. It is most pervasive
in its natural state, in rocks in the ground, where
under certain chemical conditions it leaches out in
the groundwater. Universally present and completely
invisible, it is impossible to know if it’s in the drinking water unless you test for it.
Even if you know it’s there, how much arsenic is
safe? Until recently the EPA standard for arsenic
was 50 parts per billion (ppb). Then in 2006, the government reduced that level to 10 ppb.
Kozul-Horvath and her colleagues are investigating the effects of 10 ppb in the drinking water. So
it is shocking to realize that there are places in the
world with enormously higher arsenic levels in the
groundwater—as high as hundreds of parts per million (ppm)—so high that millions of people are being
poisoned with every glass of water.
Some areas of China and Taiwan have naturally
very high concentrations of arsenic, but Bangladesh
is on the verge of an environmental catastrophe
due to the well-intentioned intervention of international aid agencies.
Bangladesh was experiencing a severe problem
with water-borne illnesses, so UNICEF went in and
dug shallow tube wells to help provide clean water
and ameliorate illnesses such as cholera. They succeeded, but at a terrible price.
“Nobody recognized the geology of the area was
highly contaminated with arsenic,” says KozulHorvath. “So when they dug these wells, they
switched exposure from water-borne infectious

disease to clinical arsenic poisoning. These poor
people—as much as 20 percent of the population in
Bangladesh is dying because of arsenic exposure.
They call it the mass poisoning of the population.”
Chronic exposure to moderate levels of arsenic
has been associated with a variety of adverse health
effects, including cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and reproductive and cognitive problems. Long-term
high-dose exposure can lead to painful lesions on the
hands and feet, cancer, and death. Korval-Horvath
cites a study in Chile where 30 years after a contaminated water supply was cleaned up, residents were
evaluated for health problems.
“Epidemiologists went in and those people who
were exposed as much as 30 years ago had very serious impacts,” says Kozul-Horvath. “Lung, liver, and
bladder cancer.” Cleaning up the water supply did
not solve the medical issues; the damage could not
be undone.
had some luck, and she’s the first to admit it. Her
choice of research subject overlapped with some
high-profile public health concerns. When she was
looking at the effects of arsenic on influenza, it was
the peak of the H1N1 outbreak, and the public was
clamoring for information
about how to contain this new
strain of flu.
Her results were significant.
She found that mice exposed
to low levels of arsenic and
subsequently infected with
influenza had a much more
severe course of infection.
When her paper was published, she was something of a
media darling—interviewed on
New Hampshire Public Radio
and the subject of a feature
in The Scientist magazine,
among other news outlets. She
was in demand as a speaker,
especially in New Hampshire,
where much of the population
gets its water from private
wells, which aren’t regulated
for arsenic exposure.
Whether and how arsenic
affects people through the
generations is the focus of
Kozul-Horvath’s current study.
She is exposing pregnant mice
to low levels of arsenic and
monitoring the health of the

19
SPRING 11

Joseph Mehling

In addition to drive and smarts, Kozul-Horvath has

offspring until adulthood (mice are considered adult
at eight weeks). This research question, which she
humorously dubs “You Are What Your Mother Ate,”
has already had interesting results.
“We are seeing dramatic effects on the growth of
the babies,” Kozul-Horvath says. They are smaller
than normal. She is now going to investigate the
health of their immune systems.
In true overachiever mode, Kozul-Horvath is doing
a lot in addition to being a researcher, mother, and
wife. She has helped create (and makes an appearance in) a movie called In Small Doses — a public service project sponsored by the Dartmouth Superfund
Research Program aimed at encouraging well owners
to test water for arsenic. She is committed to this
kind of public service and speaks regularly to well
owners about testing water and protecting themselves from arsenic contamination.
This semester Kozul-Horvath is also teaching a
course in anatomy and physiology at Colby Sawyer
College in nearby New London, New Hampshire,
using, she says, the same textbook she used in a
similar course at Regis.
“I feel like I am coming back full circle here,” she
says. “I think I’d love to teach in a small school and
also continue doing research.”

Kathleen Dooher

By Susan Seligson

21

LAST
CHANCE

SPRING 11

For those on the brink of
homelessness, Lori Lambert '81 and
The Bridge Fund may be their

Last fall Lori Lambert,
a feisty advocate for
the homeless and former
Carmelite nun, was nominated by friends to appear
on The Oprah Show in
recognition of a lifetime
of community service.

22
REGIS TODAY

Lambert, a little reluctant to participate, was persuaded by friends to accept an honored place in the
audience of a show titled “Oprah’s Favorite Things
Part II.” She walked away with a framed photo of
herself in a half-embrace with the talk show diva,
as well as an armful of gifts. Two and a half months
later, Lambert struggles to remember them all:
“Let’s see, I got an iPad ... and these Ugg boots ...
diamond drop earrings and cashmere sweaters,
designer jeans. A complete set of Le Creuset cookware, and ... oh, a car.”
One may safely conclude that Lambert is not
enthralled with material things. A preteen-sized wisp
of a woman whose energy is inversely proportional to
her bulk, she lives in an enviable Cambridge colonial,
left in trust partly to her by a beloved philanthropist couple Lambert nursed in their final years. For
Lambert, the home’s real treasures are her memories
of her dear friends and her “boys”— two Maltese
and one bichon frise. Exploding with high-pitched
commentary and mischief are Ogden, named after
Lambert’s favorite Protestant theologian, Schubert
Ogden; Zimi, shortened from the Albanian for “my
little heart”; and C.C., named for the additional
credit card friends told Lambert she’d need after
acquiring a third pet.
Except for her years in a contemplative order,
Lambert has labored on behalf of people in crisis
since graduating from Regis, helping the homeless or those on the brink of homelessness. Her
nine-year stint at Boston’s Pine Street Inn shelter
sealed the personal commitment that would lead,
decades later, to the formation of The Bridge Fund
of Massachusetts Inc., a Newton-based private

nonprofit that prevents family
and individual homelessness by
extending short-term grants or
interest-free loans. Modeled after
The Bridge Fund of New York
City, the fund was hatched at
Lambert’s dining room table. “I
was unemployed and my whole
career was focused on housing
and the homeless,” says Lambert,
who was impressed with the
NYC program for its straightforward effectiveness.
Though Bridge Fund clients
can range from working families
to single mothers just getting on
their feet after fleeing an abusive
partner, the fund’s guiding principle is sustainability. “We pay down rental arrears
for people who are in danger of becoming homeless
through no fault of their own,” says Lambert. The
only homelessness prevention program of its kind
in the Bay State extends loans to clients “who may
have a sick child, or need major car repairs, they get
behind on their payments and face eviction,” Lambert
explains. Seniors, the disabled, and new immigrants
are also often in urgent need of support.
It works. The number of homeless in Massachusetts
has more than doubled since 2000, with women and
children at greatest risk. With the cost of housing a
family in a shelter for a year estimated at $55,000,
The Bridge Fund’s average cost of $1,000 to $2,000
per loan or grant makes sense whether one is motivated by the heart or the wallet. Referred by various
state agencies, people in difficult but most likely
temporary straits will apply to The Bridge Fund for
interest-free loans that must be repaid, even at rates
of $5 or $25 a month. And because 100 percent of
private donor contributions go toward these loans—
the Fund operates in office space donated by board
president Paul Cravedi, with just one full-time staffer
and a number of volunteers—the money continues to
deliver relief to the changing pool of clients, with each
beneficiary understanding that every loan payment
goes back out to a family or individual in need.
Starting the moment she begins work at 9 a.m.,
the calls are nonstop, says Lambert, who forms lasting relationships with many clients, some of whom
she has shepherded through more than one crisis.
She has leapt into her car on weekends and at odd
hours to head off clients’ evictions. A colleague, Peter
Clenott, describes her style as compassionate but

It wasn’t a steady forward march for Lambert,
career-wise. Though she’s admittedly awful with
dates, as she offers a halting narration of it,
Lambert’s career history seems to lack a certain
flow. At first she’s reluctant to share the whole story,
but it soon becomes apparent to both Lambert and a
guest that she could not give an honest account of her
life and work without revealing her years as a nun,
and particularly how she retreated to a monastery
and marked a different kind of progress there.
The foundation of Lambert’s spiritual life was
solidified, if not created, in her college years. “These
women, and countless others, really impacted my life
and determined its course during my
time at Regis,” says Lambert, who didn’t
grow up in a churchgoing family. “To
all of them I shall be forever grateful.
To this day, they remain in my heart,
and they have my total admiration
and love.” For helping to set her on her
path she credits Sisters Betty Cawley,
Zita Fleming, Marie Cicchese, Dorothy
McKenzie, Thérèse Higgins, Catherine
Mary Meade, and Lee Hogan, and countless others.
“These women really informed the
direction of my life, and to his day, I love
them all dearly,” says Lambert. “I would
not have chosen the pattern or path of
my life without these wonderful women.
You know, they never pushed the reliLambert was persuaded
gion thing on any of us; they simply lived
by friends to accept an
it by example. That,” says Lambert, “is
honored place in the
far more powerful.”
audience of“Oprah’s
Favorite Things Part II."
Among those she has never met,
Lambert counts as inspirations Dorothy
Day, Edith Stein, Martin Luther King,
Jr., John F. Kennedy, Thomas Merton,
C. S. Lewis, and “of course,” she adds,
“I’m a big fan of Jesus.” Though her family wasn’t
ambert left her hometown of Bedford,
religious Lambert felt a pull to church as young
New Hampshire, to attend Regis and
as six years old. “I was always drawn by Catholic
has been in the Boston area ever since.
social teaching,” says Lambert, who has two brothAt Regis in the late seventies, Lambert
ers with whom she’s very close. Right out of college
studied classics, with independent study in perspecshe entered the novitiate of the Boston Sisters of
tives on human thought. She worked at Pine Street
Inn for nine years, first serving the 3:00 to 11:00 p.m. St. Joseph, leaving at age 23. Lambert’s decision
almost a decade later to join a monastery was
shift in the men’s unit, then moving to Pine Street’s
inspired by the intensely personal, mystical writings
first satellite shelter for women in Dorchester.
of St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th-century Castilian who
“Pine Street was one of my most favorite jobs
founded the order of the Discalced Carmelite nuns.
on the planet,” says Lambert, who took what she
“I was just completely drawn in by the writings of
learned on the job to the position of Director of
Teresa of Avila,” says Lambert, who at first spent
Modernization for the Chelsea Housing Authority.

firm. As a caseworker with Lowell-based
Community Teamwork Inc., Clenott has made
224 referrals to Lambert since 2006. The Bridge
Fund was able to assist at least 90 percent of these,
and though Lambert insists on sustainability, she
might extend small one-time grants to clients for
needs beyond rent, says Clenott. It’s left to her
discretion. “She’s very flexible,” says Clenott, “and
it’s extremely rare that she lets anyone down.” The
clients are struck by Lambert’s empathetic nature,
says Clenott. If some can’t make a payment she’ll
accept an amount as low as $1, as long as the client
is making an effort.

SPRING 11

L

23

24

REGIS TODAY

weekends at the monastery experiencing Carmelite
life. “There’s something so balanced about the monastic life,” says Lambert as her cell phone blares. “It’s
basically a life of prayer.” Lambert likes to dispel the
notion that the contemplative life is an uninvolved
life. “I’m a little feisty go-getter,” she says, “but so
are the Carmelites.” Lambert describes her re-entry
into the cacophonous wired world as harsh. “I could
not believe how things had changed,” she says. “You
turn on cable and there are people swearing. It took
me months to get over the noise. Everything was
profoundly noisy to me,” says Lambert.
It may have taken months to acclimate herself to
the noncloistered world, but Lambert was employed
within three weeks, working for the Tri City Housing
Task Force for Homeless Families covering tri-city
housing task force for Malden, Medford, and Everett.
Lambert nursed her quiet, prayerful side even as
she threw herself into the lives of her clients, who
“always come first.” “It’s my job to be as present as
possible,” says Lambert. “I consider that my vocation
at this point.” Though she has no shortage of friends
of the conventional variety, she has no use for social
media sites. “All of this social networking stuff feels
like a massive home invasion,” says Lambert. “I do
what I have to for work; I don’t avoid it.”
Lambert’s years at Pine Street did more than set
in motion a career of community service. It was there
that she first crossed paths with Esmee deMenocal
Brooks, a charismatic volunteer and philanthropist
who took it upon herself to hang a rotating series
of paintings on the walls of the men’s shelter. “We
were best friends from day one,” Lambert says of
Esmee, gesturing to an arresting portrait that gazes
down from the fireplace mantel. She is stunning, and
Lambert attests to Esmee’s elegance and gentleness. Lambert’s home belonged to Esmee, who died a
decade ago at 73, and her husband, Shep, who passed
away five years ago. With its walls arranged with
portraits, the Cambridge house, tucked in the maze
of picturesque streets on the outskirts of Harvard

Square, is a shrine to the couple. “It was in
the eighties,” says Lambert. “Esmee used to
ride her bicycle to the Pine Street Inn. I was
organizing a fund-raiser through an interfaith alliance, and I thought, I’ve got to call
Esmee. I didn’t realize she was an independent philanthropist, a one-woman show.”
Esmee and Shep made Lambert part of their colorful circle of friends, and Lambert was a regular at
their vibrant dinner parties. When Esmee began succumbing to Alzheimer’s, Lambert left the monastery
to care for her, and when Esmee died, Lambert
was at her side. “I promised her I would take care
of Sheppie,” says a tearful Lambert. She not only
made good on that promise, she cared for Esmee’s
brother Dick, an accomplished artist whose works,
inspired by his world travels, fan out across the walls
of the living and dining rooms. About 12 years ago
Shep told Lambert he was too old to be in the house
alone and asked her to move in. She’s been there
ever since.
Though Lambert prefers the quiet—she gardens
and likes just hanging out with the dogs and renting
a movie—her clients can reach her 24/7 through a
messaging system, and she is always poised to swing
into action if a client is in trouble. There was the
woman, a single mother with six dependents, including her grandchildren, who got a call at her job from
a neighbor who noticed that the family’s possessions
were being hauled away in a moving van. It came on
the heels of an illegal eviction—The Bridge Fund had
already helped the woman bring her rent payments
up-to-date—and Lambert recalls being in a state
of shock. “I burst into tears,” she says. “I thought,
how am I going to fix this?” She dried her tears and
got on the phone. “We got her into a new place that
night,” says Lambert. “All they had were pillows
and blankets, and The Bridge Fund provided a gift
card for food.” When things like this come up, says
Lambert, “you just have to act.”
After 30 years in the business, Lambert has developed a reputation for what some would call heroism.
Oprah agreed and chose Lambert to be among the
handful of honorees invited up to the stage after the
show. As for the gifts, Lambert has given many of
them away, but the patent-leather Uggs have served
her well this winter. She still isn’t sure whether she’ll
keep the car.

25
SPRING 11

Kathleen Dooher

Lambert nursed her
quiet, prayerful
side even as she threw
herself into the lives
of her clients.

together
alumni

26

2

REGIS TODAY

1

4

On Tuesday, January 18, Kathleen
1Davis
Sparrough ’65 and Joanne
Massey Howes ’65 hosted a Regis
Reception for alumnae living in and
around the DC area at the lovely
Washington, DC, home of Kathy
Sparrough. Enjoying the evening
are: Miriam Finn Sherman ’98, Chief
Development Officer; Kathy and
Joanne; and Barbara Clancy, Director
of Alumni Relations.

3

ileen McCormick Langenus ’78 and
2 Ehusband
Peter hosted a Regis New
York City Reception for Alumni and
Friends at the Union League Club on
Friday, December 10. Enjoying the
event are Eileen and her roommate,
Daria Charchenko Kamford ’78.
osemary M. Caron ’90 PhD,
3 RMPH,
and family proudly join in
Homecoming Festivities on
October 2, 2010.
onstance Torrisi Miragliotta ’53
4 Cjoins
current trustee and host Ellen
C. Kearns ’67, Esq., at the Legal
Reception on October, 19, 2010.
r. Mary Jane England ’59 brings
5 Dback
the past presidents of the
Alumni Association for a dinner
of remembrance and honor on
November 16, 2010.

✒ Katherine Connelly ¶ I hope you have
all survived this rather severe winter
and are anxiously awaiting an early
spring. ¶ S. Alice McConville is well
and is looking forward to moving back
to the new Senacle Retreat House in
Ronkonkoma this summer. She is very
enthusiastic about the move. ¶ Best
wishes to all and keep well.

1940

✒ Mary Kerr Lynch, 275 Mirick Road,

Princeton, MA 015411-1127, 978-464-5611

¶ Janet Ahern Rink recently moved,
and I spoke with her daughter Holly.
Holly shared the sad news that her
sister, Janet’s daughter Linda, had
recently passed away. The family is
most attentive to Janet during this
difficult time. ¶ Marion Quinn Clancy
is her cheery self. Due to an accident
last year, Marion has been in rehab for
a “long time” so she is looking forward
to the spring. Marion is dedicated to
her 9 children, grandchildren, and
great grandchild. The Clancys are
professional singers called “The Clancy
Group.” Marion is known for her rendition of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
Keep singing Marion! ¶ Sadly, Claire
Griffin Deveney passed away on Jan.
14, 2011. Her daughter said Claire died

peacefully with family around her. RIP
Claire. ¶ Marie Scanlon Flaherty and
her husband Matt continue to enjoy
their home in Scituate, Mass. Marie
was recently hospitalized, but she feels
great. Matt is on the board of the BC
Cape Club and they will participate in
many upcoming events. Marie’s niece
and nephews, children of her late sister
Josephine Scanlon Carlson ’44, are
most attentive to the Flahertys. ¶ Alice
Herlihy continues to live in her original
family home in Florence, Mass. Alice
was a successful businesswoman
as president of the family woman’s
clothing shop in Florence. Alice was a
volunteer of many years of Buy-a-Bear,
an organization that distributes bears
to needy children and senior citizens.
¶ Mary Hastings Kilcoyne is residing
in her family home in Clinton, Mass.
Her husband John passed away in
2009 and her son Timothy moved in
to assist Mary with the house. Her
daughter Julie and 2 sons also live in
Clinton. Mary is fortunate to see her
children and grandchildren frequently.
¶ Margaret Madden Foley is living with
her daughter Patricia in Rye, N.H.
Margaret has 4 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who live
in different parts of the country. She
speaks in glowing terms of her wonderful, dedicated family. ¶ Mary McDevitt
Hadley and her husband Elinus have

enjoyed the Cape for many years,
residing in Osterville. Mary plays
bridge weekly and goes bowling on
occasion. The Hadleys have 1 daughter,
2 sons, 14 grandchildren, and 16 great
grandchildren. It’s a busy schedule for
Mary and Elinus with the family, who
all reside in Massachusetts. ¶ Marie
Dillon Marcellino enjoys her Lexington,
Mass. winter home, but looks forward
to the summer at the Cape. With her 4
children and their families, plus her 6
step-children of her late husband Bill,
Marie is busy. Marie continues to be
her energetic self, enjoying her equally
energetic family. ¶ For many years
Mary Sampson Schmidt is a resident of
San Jose, Calif. Her husband Raymond
passed away many years ago. Mary’s
5 children, grandchildren, and great
grandchildren are dedicated to Mary. ¶
Plantation Valley in Wilmington, N.C.,
a beautiful independent facility, continues to be Geraldine Burke Morrill ’s
home. Gerrie’s 6 children reside in different parts of the U.S. Her son Robert
is in the Outer Banks of N.C. with
his family; and son Jim is the City
Manager in Roanoke, W. Va., where he
lives with his family. ¶ Martha Mitten
Hosinski just returned from Portland,
Oreg. She enjoyed visiting her daughters Anne Hosinski Madden ’67 and
Claire, who, with their families, live in
Oregon. Martha lives in South Bend,

class
children, many grandchildren, and 7
great grandchildren, I am also looking
forward to a family vacation in April
at the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
¶ Bless one and all, smile, and be
happy and healthy! Blessings on Regis
College, “high on the hilltop.”

1946 65th Reunion Class

✒ Elizabeth Brugman O’Brien, 48 King
James Drive, East Dennis, MA 02541,
508-385-2169 ¶ As I write, an impend-

ing snowstorm is traveling to southeastern New England. Winter has
arrived! May all of us enjoy a happy
and healthy New Year! ¶ During the
past year the following 6 of our classmates were called home to our loving
Father: Ruth Launie Stevens, Jacqueline
Chouinard Beaudry, Candide Paquette
Slattery, Barbara Toomey Hill, Virginia
Crehan Verrochi, and Rita Dooley
DeCastro. ¶ The call regarding Ruth
Stevens’s death was rather startling
as we had enjoyed lunch together a
few days previously. Ruth and I had
been classmates since the 3rd grade.
¶ Dot Gaquin Borkowski is living on
the Cape full time. When we see each
other we reminisce and then chat
about our aging bones! ¶ Please send
news to Jeanne Hennebery, 11 Orchard
Road, Scituate, MA 02066 or call her
at 781-545-0129. ¶ Hope to see many
of you at the Tower Luncheon, Friday,
May 20, 2011. Remember, this is our
65th reunion when sending your gift
to the annual fund. Stay well and pray
for peace.

29, 2011 scores of friends, family and
alumni gathered between athletic
events (and during a lucky break in
the relentless series of New England
blizzards!) to celebrate the life of
our friend and classmate S. Thèrèse
Higgins by dedicating the athletic
court in the Regis Athletic Facility in
her memory. Representing the class
of ’47 were Phyllis Gallinelli Campbell,
Alice Dunbar O’Halloran, and Jeanne
MacDonough Cronin. It was a splendid
way to begin the New Year and the
new decade. ¶ I’m writing these notes
from sunny Naples, grateful to be
back in Florida after experiencing the
“wonder of nature” while in Boston
last week for a few days and 22 inches
of snow! Over the holidays and into
the New Year, I have had the chance
to catch up with several classmates.
¶ Louise McInerney Ryder continues
with her active life on Cape Cod. And,
although the circumstances were
sad, Louise and I had the privilege
of representing Regis in support of
our dear friend Dorothy Mahoney

McKenna at the funeral Mass of her
beloved Jack, who was called home
to our Lord after a brief illness and
nearly 59 years of marriage. ¶ Patricia
Ford McLaughlin is also a snowbird, in
Sarasota, Fla. She plans on attending
one of the Regis Florida gatherings in
March and looks forward to reconnecting with many of her friends and
classmates. ¶ Rita Dailey Fahey and S.
Dorothy McKenzie, both hearty New
Englanders, braved the cold and snow
over the Christmas holidays to stop by
my home one afternoon for tea. It was
a wonderful way to share news about
Regis and the lives of our classmates.
Dot continues to gather monthly for
a ladies lunch with Alice O’Halloran,
Jeanne Cronin, and Gertrude Breen
Alfredson. They, along with Phyllis
Campbell, Pat Ford, Catherine Gately
McGunigle, Louise Ryder, Rita Fahey
and S. Cecelia Agnes Mulrennan ’46
participated in the Memorial Liturgy
for Regis Alumni on Nov. 14, 2010.
A mass in Celebration of the Life of
Dorothy Walsh Harney was offered Jan.
3, 2011 at St. Mary of the Assumption
Parish, Hull, Mass. Gert Alfredson
“chauffeured 5 of us” (according to Dot
McKenzie) including Phyllis Campbell,
Alice O’Halloran and Jeanne Cronin to
the mass in order to say farewell to Dot
Harney. All were touched by the eulogy
and remembrance offered by Dot’s
oldest son. And to their surprise and
delight, during the recessional after
the mass, they found Mary Redican
McEttrick in one of the pews. ¶ We
are also sad to report that another of
our active classmates, Irene McCarthy
Keenan, was called to eternal life in
December after a long and happy life
with her husband Owen. We have
heard that Irene received quite a send
off, complete with full color guard by
the Massachusetts State Police, where
one of her 3 sons has had a distinguished career. ¶ Thank you to all
class members who continue to support
our alma mater with annual gifts. We
hope that by June we will have nearly
100 percent support! Keep happy, stay
healthy and let me know how you are
doing… I’ve joined the social media
revolution, so find me on Facebook!

¶ We have recently received the sad
news that three of our classmates have
died since the time of our last column:
Mary Duddy Keefe in September, Regina
Cooney O’Brien in November, and Ann
Madden Gargan in December. We wish
to extend our deepest sympathy and
prayers to their families in this difficult
time of loss.

29
SPRING 11

Ind., where her children grew up.
Martha’s 3 sons and their children live
in South Bend; 1 is a businessman and
2 are attorneys. One grandchild is a
freshman at Tufts Medical School in
Somerville, Mass. Hopefully Martha
will have an opportunity to visit her
granddaughter in Boston so we can
meet for lunch. ¶ Gladys Kiely McMakin
continues to reside in Arlington with
her son, Matthew. In May, Gladys
attended our 70 year reunion at Regis.
She looked wonderful and enjoyed
the festivities. Her 4 children and
grandchildren visit her frequently. ¶
Yvonne Normandeau Oswald is feeling
better after a serious illness last year.
She has regained her strength with
the assistance of her devoted husband,
Norbert. She and Norbert live in a
military residence in Melbourne, Fla.
Yvonne said they had mighty chilly
weather this year. ¶ M. Beatrice Cunniff
Quinn passed away February 16, 2010.
Her children presented a memorial gift
to Regis College, in memory of their
lovely mother, “Beachie.” ¶ Rita McNeil
Schissel is her happy self. She and her
husband Charles live in Amesbury,
Mass. where they raised their 8
children. Due to arthritis, Rita has
curtailed traveling to her family in different parts of the U.S. They come and
visit her now. Rita always comments
that “she is blessed with a wonderful
family.” ¶ Barbara Norton Schlitzer
enjoys living in Framingham, Mass.,
her home for over 43 years and where
her children grew up. Despite several
hospitalizations last year, Barbara
attended the 70th reunion luncheon at
Regis. Her daughter Jean and son Vic
are attentive to her care. (Barbara’s
son Robert sadly passed away years
ago.) Barbara’s 5 grandchildren are
also attentive. ¶ Ruth Ferraro Tobin
lives at the Boston Assisted Living
Center and is a retired teacher from
the Boston school system, where she
taught for over 35 years. Her son Jim
and his wife Anne, plus their sons
Adam and Jason, are most attentive. Adam is a graduate of U Mass.
Jason is a junior at Johns Hopkins
University. ¶ Through a friend in
Brookline, I recently made a chance
connection with Katherine O’Brien
Connelly ’37, the 1937 reporter for
Regis Today. Katherine is the sister
of Julie O’Brien Boyle, our classmate
who sadly passed away in 2003. Julie’s
4 children live in Massachusetts.
Katherine describes Julie’s family
as her “pride and joy!” ¶ As for me,
Mary Kerr Lynch , I continue to enjoy
my in-law apartment in the home of
my daughter Mary and her husband
Jay in Princeton, Mass. I am looking
forward to visiting my daughter Kathy
Lynch O’Donoghue ’67 and her husband Michael, as well as my daughter
Maureen in Florida in February to
enjoy the warm weather. With my 6

remember, or perhaps more accurately
to forget. Hope you survived without
too many dings to yourself or your car.
We enjoyed a very nice class luncheon
at Regis in October; these informal
get-togethers have been quite popular
and well-attended. Many thanks to Cay
Foley Hines for her efforts in helping
us celebrate Halloween and arranging
lunch. Many were amazed at how busy
the campus was as well as all the activity at the new athletic fields. Cay even
organized a little raffle which Pat Leary
Crory won. Marion Comerford Cowie
had taken another cruise, this time to
Italy, first class all the way, outside
cabin and all. After visiting Monaco,
Rome, Nice, Florence and Sorrento she
flew home from Venice. Mary Breslin
and Kaye Barron Cox talked about
continuing their courses through the
LLARC program at Regis. A few of
us went to the Cape Cod Holly Fest
luncheon at Woods Hole Golf Club in
December: Cay Hines, Marion Cowie,
Nancy Natoli Fay, Dorothy Costello
Merrill, and myself. It was particularly nice to see Dot as it had been a
long time it seems. She has been in
Sandwich, Mass. for 20 years, having
moved from Duxbury, Mass. She has
served as a docent at the Heritage
Museum and Garden in Sandwich and
did substitute teaching until the ’90s.
She and her husband, who passed
away 2 years ago, traveled extensively
in Europe. They had 3 children: a
daughter in Duxbury, Mass., a son
in Rhode Island, and the youngest in
Colorado. ¶ I received a very welcome
Christmas note from Margie Sellers
Fitzpatrick (hint, hint to the rest of
you). Margie’s grandson Casey is working in Washington for Sen. Udall of
New Mexico — sounds exciting to me. ¶
I had a nice chat with Eleanor Arsenault
Meinhardt in January. She still lives
in Richmond, Va., and is fortunate to
have 2 daughters close by, although
they’re so busy with their families and
jobs they have trouble making a date
once a week. Eleanor keeps in touch
with Mary Hines Hodgdon who lives in
Newton. Eileen Dewire Locke’s sister
Mary passed away last winter. We
extend our deepest sympathy to Eileen
on her loss. Eileen enjoyed chairing a
very successful 65th reunion for her
Cambridge High and Latin school class
this past year. ¶ We were saddened
to learn that we had lost four more
classmates. Polly McKenna Sullivan
died in August. Polly was widowed
and had lived in Pompton Plains, N.J.
She leaves 3 sons and 3 daughters. We
had just heard that Marie Davis Nappa
was in rehab and looking forward to
returning to her new townhouse. Sadly

she passed away in September. Also
in September Mary Phelan Greeley
died at the Ellis Nursing Home in
Norwood, Mass. where Marie Ash
Reed frequently brought her communion. Marie said that Mary was very
courageous through it all and that her
wonderful family was very attentive
to her and with her at the end. Marie
and Claire Horan Brady keep in touch by
phone at least once a month and enjoy
catching up with each other. Again in
September we lost Pat Shaw Croke. Pat
had lived in Marshfield, Mass. for some
time and is survived by 7 children. We
extend sincere condolences to the families and friends of Polly, Marie, Mary,
and Pat. May they rest in peace and
may their families be consoled in their
grief. ¶ Hopefully we’ll see many of you
at the Golden Tower luncheon in May;
watch for your invitation in the mail.
Till then, stay well and upbeat.

our deepest sympathy to the families of Patricia Donahue Kaye, Colette
Higgins Woelfel, Winifred McLaughlin
Flanagan, Phyllis Hazard Murphy, and
Jean Tierney. ¶ Last November, the
Annual Memorial Liturgy was held for
all alumni who had passed in the last
year. The chapel was filled to capacity
with family and friends followed by a
delicious brunch in the Student Union.
Anne Noonan Nicholson had invited 2
of Jean Tierney’s friends, Patsy Daly
and Ann Swanson, to attend with her.
Unfortunately Anne ended up with
the shingles so she couldn’t attend,
but they did. They joined Terry LeBlanc
Gray and me (Alfreda Swiston O’Hara)
and said Jean had been a true and generous friend with a foundation built on
the cornerstone of faith. She was both a
teacher and an administrator, but her
passion was teaching. ¶ At a later date,
I called Anne, who was feeling much
better. Anne and Jack have 2 children,
both married, and 1 grandchild. Anne
worked as a teacher before spending
35 years as a children’s librarian. She
now has limited vision but is blessed
with a helpful husband. ¶ Every year
Terry and I look forward to a visit from
Polly Doyle Powell who comes from her
home in Washington, D.C. with photos
from her last trip. This year she flew
14 hours to Tokyo and then 7 hours to
Singapore. After sight-seeing there, she
flew to Saigon, where she cruised the
Mikong River Delta, then on to Hanoi
and all the interesting places in that
part of the world. Polly must be one
of the most traveled members of our

class. ¶ I went to New Orleans recently
to see Mary Kilcoyne Choquette and her
husband, Normand, my brother. She
has recovered beautifully from a stroke
she suffered back in May. We were
amazed and delighted to find her so
well, and we had a lovely visit. She and
Normand have a darling little “shotgun” home, and are blessed beyond
belief to have an angel-daughter as
their next-door neighbor. (Would that
all octogenarians have similar good
fortune!) All in all, it was a most enjoyable get-together. She sends you all her
best wishes. ¶ I called Eleanor Wadden
Davis recently; no one was home, so
I left a message with her husband
Charlie. I hadn’t spoken with him in
quite some time, but clearly recognized
his voice, or so I thought. A day later,
a very sweet gentleman returned my
call saying, “I think you were trying
to reach Charlie and Eleanor Davis…
you got me by mistake.” I thanked him
profusely for clueing me in (while wondering how he knew them)… he was
John Daily, married to Allie O’Leary
when she was with us. (God rest her
soul and bless her caring heart.) It
was an easy error to make because
Davis follows Daily in our classmates’
directory. (But that’s no excuse. I can
make much more difficult blunders
just as easily, seems to be a newly
acquired talent!) To make a long story
short, Ellie and I had a nice, friendly
chat, marveling at how crazy the world
is, including us! Her 9 grandchildren
are all in great shape, maybe because
there are 2 pediatricians in the family,
in addition to Ellie and Charlie, both
physicians themselves. We made plans
to meet for dinner halfway between
there and here. That will be fun. We
look forward to it. Congratulations to
any of you reaching your 60th wedding
anniversary this year.(Actually, any
number qualifies for congrats, yes?
Yes!) George and I are among you and
will celebrate with a trip to Hawaii
next month. Years of cheers and tears
to be grateful for. C’est la vie. ¶ As a
Lowellian, I am happy with the awards
The Fighter is getting from the movie
industry. ¶ We’d love to hear from
more of you, and we look forward to
seeing you on campus at the Golden
Tower Luncheon on May 20, 2011.
Hopefully, the snow that is inundating
us as I write this in February will have
finally melted by then!

1951

60th Reunion
✒ Marie Barbano Tassinari, 2 Bellevue
Road, Arlington, MA 02476 ¶ In the last
issue of Regis Today, this reporter bid
you all farewell; see you at our 60th
Reunion in May 2011. There was joy
in my heart. My 5-year commitment
was completed. Happily I departed
for Vienna, the city of Sacher Torte
and Strauss; on to Florence to be

class
— all very valid. To Regis’ credit and
support of its alumnae the College has
successfully weathered calm and rough
seas. Regis is committed to its mission
to educate young women and now
young men. With your continued loyalty Regis continues to set its students
on the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Remember, we are Regis. ¶ See you
at Reunion!

wonderful people from the class of ’52.
As I write these notes it’s a cold day
in January with a blizzard expected
tomorrow. However, when you read
this, it will be April, with Spring on
the way. So, we wish you a healthy
and happy 2011. ¶ Over the past week
I’ve had the opportunity to speak with
a few of our classmates. My roommate Jane Hennessy Jaeger gave me
the exciting news that she will soon
be a great grandmother. Her daughter, Ann MacDougall, will be the
proud grandmother. Ann was recently
interviewed by The Boston Globe. She
is the corporate production manager
of the Needham Catering Company
“Bakers’ Best” who service the Boston
Celtics. Jane was very proud. ¶ Marie
Brophy Allard was next on my hit list.
She sold her beautiful historic house
in Salem, Mass. at the end of October.
She moved to assisted living in nearby
Peabody, Mass. and seems content
with her new home. Well, why not? All
her meals are prepared for her. Marie
mentioned that her children have been
just wonderful. ¶ My next phone call
was to Kate Molloy Rowe on the Cape.
Kate loved her 80th birthday party.
Her family took her on a mystery ride
to the Mount Washington Hotel in
New Hampshire where she was wined
and dined by her daughters, their
husbands, and her son from California.
Kate’s 2 grandsons, who are in college
in Arkansas, also surprised her. Of
course, husband Paul came along for
the fun. ¶ Nancy Smith is still one of
our younger classmates. She will not
turn 80 until March 30. Nancy would
love to hear from you. She talks to
Helena Collins Carty from Sunnyvale,
Calif. and Marie Corcoran Menton.
Please drop her a line at 757 Highland
Ave. Apt. 118 N, Needham, MA 02494.
She is mostly housebound and loves to
chat with old friends. We reminisced
about our friend and classmate Ruth
Tallent Brady who always had time for
all of us. ¶ Pat Wentworth Delorey had
great news about her husband Lenny
who is labeled “the miracle man” by his
doctors. He suffered a stroke and was
taken to Mass. General Hospital. He
made a remarkable, complete recovery.
More good news! Pat and Lenny’s son

was married in August to a wonderful girl and both Pat and Lenny were
well enough to attend. ¶ A group of us
were at the Marriott on October 21,
2010 — including Mary Foley Noon,
Loyola Doherty Sylvan, Nancy Quinn
O’Keefe, Jill Mckearin Paredes, Pat
Hogan, Marie Rizzo, Sally Finnerty Tully,
Mary Gallagher Watts, Ann Geisel, Ann
Purcell Macdonald, Pat Arroll Petrillo,
and Dorothy Holley Connors. Dorothy
had an unbelievable 80th celebration.
Her daughter and son surprised her
with a trip to Rome, Florence, and
Venice. Great! ¶ Pat Arroll Petrilli
shared some notes with me that she
received from a few classmates. Joan
Hartley Meagher sent her best wishes
to everyone and appreciation to Pat
for sending updates on class activities.
¶ Another note arrived from Carmel
by the Sea, Calif. by Barbara Mahoney
Barron. Barbara’s 4 children and 7
grandchildren live all over the country:
Maine, Newfoundland, California, etc.
Barbara lives in a beautiful country on
the Pacific Coast Highway and near
Big Sur. When Bill and I visited the
area some years ago, Carmel even had
Clint Eastwood as their mayor. ¶ Sally
Finnerty Tully is back on the Cape. Her
new address is 4210 Heatherwood,
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675. She
appears to love her new place. ¶ Regis’
Hollyfest at the Woods Hole Golf Club
was attended by Kay Deveney Kaladin,
Kate Molloy Rowe, Sally Finnerty
Tully and Zay Dunphy Hyde. Zay was in
the area from Philadelphia visiting her
doctor and Sally. ¶ I thought it would
be nice to occasionally pay tribute to
someone in our class who has been
loyal over the years and adds so much
to keeping us together. My vote goes to
Pat Arroll Petrilli. One of our classmates referred to her as the “Caretaker
of all things financial.” That says it all.
Thank you Pat. ¶ Stay in touch. I’d love
to hear from you. Exercise. Energize!

grayish-blue clouds stretch across
the December western sky, already
depicting early nightfall. I am thankful for home and hearth especially
at moments like this. Let’s hope you
are all well and managed to survive
January’s incessant snow! Barbara
Keenan McLarney, Vera Sullivan
Beaumont, Jeanne O’Sullivan McCarthy,
Helen Valle Binell, and Frances
Florencourt attended the Annual
Memorial Liturgy at Regis in Nov.
2010. ¶ Maureen Cremen and her friend
Lily enjoyed a trip to Washington, D.C.
for the April Cherry Blossom Festival.
The weather was fantastic and they
experienced a boat trip on the Potomac
River. Mary-Louise Kenney Roland lives

31
SPRING 11

refreshed by Boticelli, Michelangelo,
and Beefstake Florentine; next to join
the crowds in St. Peter at an audience
with Benedict XVI; concluding the
trip at an entertaining wine festival
in Lugano where the Swiss showed
just how fun-loving they can be. It was
a perfect trip, made so in the company of my cousin Carolyn Vernaglia
Rupolo ’64, Angela Giovanangelo ’62,
and Virginia Williams from BU, not
Regis. We were as fancy-free as our
advancing years allowed. ¶ Returning
home to the holidays, my only concern
was where to pile the snow. Then it
happened. My computer told about
Class Notes being due. Surely that
wasn’t for me. I had heard our Class
President Janice McBride Power refer
to a new slate of Class Officers, a
Class Reporter included. Woe to me!
Our wires were crossed. Janice did
have a new Class Reporter who was
to start after Reunion. Since neither
of us wanted our class to be among
the missing, with Janice’s help you
are reading the result. Forgive me for
the lengthy opening, it was to take
up space as the news is scarce and
the time is wanting. ¶ Our beloved
classmate Joan Johnson Solli has gone
to the Lord. Do you remember Joanie’s
quiet smile and engaging way? Sadly
too many of our friends have lost their
beloved husbands. To these we extend
our condolences: Helen Kelley Colbert,
Bert Cutting Donnelly, Barbara Palmer
Schlichte, Mary Lou Conlin Pearson,
and Barbara McCarthy Glynn. May
their loved ones rest in peace. ¶ On a
happy note, Ann Brown Janes has left
the old homestead, living now at “The
Groves” but still in Lincoln, Mass.
Sister Marie de Sales (Phyllis Dineen)
now resides at St. Joseph’s Hall,
Bethany Road, Framingham, Mass.
Sister Marjorie Marie (Rosemary Howe)
is at Framingham also. ¶ We learned
from Anne Downey Tierney that Barbara
Palmer Schlichte’s son Miles was
appointed Emergency Management
Director in Gloucester, Mass. Anne
herself is enjoying the balmy Florida
weather. From snowbound New York
state, Margie Linney Carrol reports her
health has improved and is looking forward to our 60th Reunion. ¶ Recently
I met up with Sister Dorothy Welch.
I have heard of Sister’s work in the
Congregation but had not seen Dorothy
in many years. Being in Dorothy’s
presence I discovered a woman joyfully
dedicated to her work, a woman radiating the grace of the Lord. You can see
for yourself, as Dorothy plans to be at
the Reunion. ¶ Undoubtedly you have
received a letter from our dedicated
Fund Agent, Mary Lee McLaughlin
Girouard, inviting your support of the
Annual Fund in a very meaningful way
in this our 60th Reunion year. Through
the years Mary Lee has given us many
good reasons for supporting the Fund

notes

32
REGIS TODAY

in Avon, Conn. and has been extremely
busy with her 7 grandchildren and
teaching. Sadly, Mary-Louise’s husband Paul passed in 1997. Her grandson Kenneth is a cellist for the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra and Mary-Louise
hopes to travel to Paris for an upcoming concert. Mary-Louise’s granddaughter was married July 10, 2010 in
Long Island, N.Y. and she is now Kate
Smith. A grandson Kevin Roland is a
freshman at Emerson College. MaryLouise received her master’s degree
at Central Connecticut University
and taught French for 28 years at
Northwest Catholic High School in
West Hartford, Conn. She chaperoned groups of students to France
each year. She continues to teach at
Jubilee House staffed by St. Joseph
nuns in Hartford, Conn. Mary-Louise
teaches English and writing to nonEnglish-speaking adults. Her students
originate from Albania, Bosnia, Brazil,
Peru, Columbia, and many other countries. ¶ Gerry Martin Kennedy and Kevin
recently moved to Canton, Mass. and
are thrilled about their new location.
Their daughter bought the family home
in West Roxbury, Mass. Father Bill
returned home from Afghanistan to
spend Thanksgiving 2010 with Kevin
and Gerry. He finishes his Afghanistan
tour of duty at the end of Mar. 2011
and has been assigned to Tampa,
Fla. Meanwhile, Kevin and Gerry
left Feb. 1, 2011 to spend a month in
Oceanside, Calif. where they will reside
in Father Bill’s home. ¶ Recently, I had
a wonderful conversation with Helen
Valle Binell; she wants to be remembered to all. Helen has 12 grandchildren. Geraldine Finn has retired from
her lifelong administrative career in
Mental Health Occupational Therapy.
In her capacity as administrator she
worked in Cleveland, Ohio; Hartford,
Conn.; and Boston. For 5 years after
her retirement, Gerry was a volunteer
in Waltham and Northboro, Mass.
nursing homes. She also served on the
board of Lost Coin Women’s Fund Inc.,
which provides money to low income
women who wish to attend college.
Gerry is now fully retired and relishing
a relaxed lifestyle including lunching
with Helen V., Jeanne O., Vera S.,
and Barbara K. ¶ Have a happy and
healthy summer. Please send news.

A buffet luncheon followed the Mass
and then President Mary Sullivan held
a class meeting. Several items were
discussed, primarily the possibility of
dropping our class service and joining
with the Liturgy later in the month. It
was unanimously decided that no one
wanted to drop our class memorial. ¶
Another discussion followed regarding
the luncheons held at Luciano’s in
the summer and Christmas. All class
members are welcome to attend. If
you are interested, contact Marie
or Maureen and we will notify the
organizers. The summer luncheon is
usually held in early June. ¶ Unable
to attend the liturgy, Marie Clogher
Malaro sent a letter to the class,
bringing us up to date since 1954. After
graduation from BC Law School, she
married a nuclear scientist, settled
in D.C., had 2 children and joined
the Smithsonian Institution as legal
counsel. She became an expert on
museum law, teaching in the graduate
program at George Washington
University. Marie would love to hear
from her classmates—her email
address is jcmalaro@gmail.com. Marie
has kept in touch with S. Anne Xavier,
another classmate. Sister is retired
now, in her 80s and nearly blind, but
still very alert and busy. She would
enjoy hearing about the Regis of today.
Her address is S. Anne Xavier, Mt. St.
Joseph, Waterville, Me. 04901. Peg
Savage and husband Neil, following
their exciting China and Korea trip,
went to Washington, D.C. to see
their son Neil sworn into the State
Department. Neil, his wife and son
will be stationed in Korea for a 2-year
stint — looks like another Asian trek
for the Savages. Marie Lueders had a
fun 9-day trip to Brussels, Belgium.
Her daughter, Jane is married to a
Turkish Naval officer who is assigned
to NATO headquarters for the next 2
years as the Turkish representative
to the EU. They saw granddaughter
Melissa off to school each morning and
then proceeded to go sightseeing. They
rode the canals, hiked the countryside,
and visited museums. Each day was a
different experience. Kay Tobin is off
to the Bahamas for a 3-week vacation.
What a winter to go on such a fun trip!
Mary Sullivan just returned from a
3-week visit with her daughter and
family in the Pennsylvania Snow
Belt. ¶ Some grandchildren news —
Sandy Shay and family welcomed a
new granddaughter to their family,
Connie Davidson is looking forward
to the arrival of twin grandchildren
shortly and Marie Lueders twin

granddaughters are heading for
college in North Carolina next fall.
¶ Condolences to Mary Sullivan on
the sudden death of her son Mark;
to Rosemary McAulliffe on the death
of her brother Phillip; and to Jeanne
Deveraux Arsenault on the death of her
brother Paul. Our prayers are offered
to Paula Fitzsimmons and the family
of Paula Clair Fitzsimmons who died in
December. ¶ We really would love to
hear from you. Especially those who
live at a distance.

1955

✒ Peg Vincent Kelley, PO Box 1345,

Edgartown MA 02539, pevky@aol.com

¶ If you’re reading this, summer is on
its way and I say “Good.” I’m ready.
I used to love winter, when we were
young, now it’s just cold. Last time,
we asked you to tell us a bit about
yourselves. What you did to keep your
brain alive, your pet peeves and such.
My pet peeves, like some of you, are
too numerous to mention as a whole,
but I think my favorite is the expression “free gift.” Aren’t gifts always free?
And if you pay for it, isn’t it then not a
gift? I volunteer at the library, shelving
books and I also am a volunteer docent
at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
This I love; I get to meet some really
interesting people. It’s fun and it’s how
I spend every Tuesday afternoon all
summer. Pat Finnegan Morais writes,
“I am still working at the Portsmouth
Naval Shipyard, believe it or not. I
have retired many times but a reason
to remain always pops up. Because
there are several brash (and smart)
youngsters in my code, I find myself in
the center of a situation comedy; they
are endlessly funny, outrageous, totally
insulting, and provide an insight into
the young generation and their world.
At this age, I love politics, and rapidly
switch channels between Fox, CNN
,and Chris Matthews. When I tire of
the slanted views, I retreat to PBS. No
book clubs, no volunteering; and being
old and crotchety. I have too many pet
peeves to mention, but I’ll be happy to
see some responses about pet peeves in
our Spring column! ¶ Jacqui Cyr Lewis
says she reads a lot — she gave me a
list of 7 of her recent books, including
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, a book
that I received as a Christmas gift and
enjoyed also. When she’s not reading,
she’s doing crossword puzzles, watching movies (Doc Martin on BBC is a
favorite) and doing volunteer work at
a local soup kitchen. Her pet peeves?
The gridlock in national politics and
the “outrageous sums of money spent
on inaugurations (for example, $700K
for Governor Patrick’s festivities).”
Jacqui adds that she is trying to stick
to a workout schedule. ¶ Janet Condrey
Beyer tells us, “Well, my first comment
would be: I am not absolutely sure

class
concepts, which fortunately I still
recall. We also have been able to take a
few online brief courses in the BC C-21
program and remain as participants in
Voice of the Faithful. ¶ Betty Uhlinger
Miles sent this, “I do volunteer work
at the Valley Forge National Park,
keep up with my music by singing at
church and help raise funds for charity
each year by helping run the annual
Christmas house tour. My pet peeves
are rude cell phone users and poor or
lack of customer service.” ¶ Finally,
please pray for the family of Nancy
Goggin Lane. Nancy passed away in
January from a brief illness. ¶ That’s
all for now friends, if you have any
ideas, just email me.

snow blankets New England, I can
only hope better weather has arrived
by the time you read this. As of
early February, we have had record
snowfalls! But that’s New England.
¶ Our traveling class president, Mary
Lou Rawson, had her bags packed for
Panama, hoping to slip away between
storms. Pat Turner Kelley was also
following the sun for golfing in Jupiter,
Fla. in February and Palm Beach
in March. Mary Keenan and I were
anticipating our annual trip to Naples
Fla. where would attend the annual
St. Patrick’s Day Parade to cheer on (if
not join) the Regis contingent. ¶ The
Wollaston Golf Club was the site of our
class luncheon on a beautiful fall afternoon in November. Thank you to Anne
Flaherty Walsh for arranging the event.
In attendance were Mary Lou Rawson,
Ann Kent, Mary Keenan, Marie
Healy, Ginny Clark Kristo, Mary Rose
Campbell, Carole Settana Scollins,
Betty Keane Hayes, Carol Bonner
Connell, Mary Neilan Regan, Candy
Dillon Mattaliano, Pat Turner Kelley,
Jane Nyhan Kelly, Nancy Foley LaDue,
Margie Casey Mulcahy, Ann Marie Healy
Sawyer, and your faithful reporter.
Somehow with all our lively conversations we managed to talk a little about
our reunion, as well as the Sister John
Scholarship. Mary Rose is working out
the details with the college and expects
the first scholarship to be awarded this
year. She will be in touch when all is
finalized. Mary Regan joined us from
Martha’s Vineyard where she is now a
year-round resident; her new address
is 22 Nantucket Avenue, Oak Bluffs,
MA 02557, email: mjregan22@gmail.
com; phone: 508-693-9473. ¶ Also in
November, some of us attended the
Annual Memorial Liturgy for alumni
who died the previous year. Pat Murphy
Capone and Sue Brebbia were remembered. After Mass, the College hosted
a lovely brunch for alumnae, friends,

and families of the deceased. ¶ Frannie
Heron March and I shared a delightful phone conversation a few months
ago. Fran resides in Winter Park,
Fla., where her husband has practiced
medicine for many years. She has family nearby and says that grandchildren
coming and going keep her young. She
laments the fact that classmates don’t
visit her area of central Florida as she
would love to see them. (Be careful
what you wish for!) Fran was planning
to go to Manhattan for the New York
Marathon in late Fall as her daughter
and a grandson were running She is
disappointed not to be able to come to
our reunion, as her grandson will be
graduating from Medical School that
weekend. You may remember she was
unable to attend our 50th as she was
undergoing heart surgery at that time.
¶ Maggie Austin Faneuf reports that
her 14th grandchild, Sydney Olivia,
was born in January. Is that a record
number of grandchildren for our class?
Maggie continues to be active in various theater groups and will let us know
when she is performing locally. Mary
Carol Daly Curtin was in the process
of moving as of January. Her new
address is 865 Central Avenue, B504,
Needham, MA 02492, email: mdcurtin
@me.com. We wish Mary and Jack
much happiness in their new home. I
think they will find that “down”sizing
definitely has its “up”sides. ¶ I finally
reconnected with Mary McDonald
Eagleson. She has abandoned Florida
in favor of Lincoln, Nebr., near her
daughter Karen and family. Karen,
a 2nd grade teacher, had an opportunity to put her considerable decorating talents to use in Mary and Ken’s
new home. Mary finds her “salt-ofthe-earth” Midwestern neighbors a
refreshing change. Her new address is
7512 Hamann Meadows Place, Lincoln,
NE 68506; email: athlone34@gmail.
com. Mary hopes to join us at reunion
when she comes east to attend the
graduation of her grandson from UNH.
In the meantime, she was optimistically facing spinal surgery after having
endured months of physical therapy
and injections. We wish her all the best
and hope she is recuperating nicely by
now. ¶ Mary passed on some upbeat
news from Joananne Argus Marshall.
Joananne and Jack’s 12-year-old
grandson, Jake Marshall, has been
awarded numerous prizes for his surfing talents in California, as well as in
Indonesia, Australia, and Puerto Rico.
You can view videos and learn more
about this delightful, engaging young
man by googling his website “jakemarshall surfer.” As Mary says, “Isn’t
every happy, positive story welcome in
the world of today?” What fun! ¶ Hope
many of you have made plans to attend
our 55th Class Reunion May 20–22.
See you there! ¶ As always, please keep
our classmates in your prayers. We are

33
SPRING 11

my brain is not melting. But to slow
the progress, I have a book club with
English majors, two from Regis, and
we read only fiction by dead authors
(although there have been a couple
regrettable lapses.) We have been
going for 10 years and are reading the
books we read in college and were too
young to either understand or appreciate. This month is Cry, The Beloved
Country. I am heading towards my
3rd year of leading a 6-week spring
course at the Village University of
Concord. I choose the topic and get
expert speakers. The 1st year was on
the constitution and how we elect our
president (with a push toward getting
rid of the Electoral College); this year
we are doing the Bill of Rights. The
series starts the end of March and I
am in the process of getting speakers. I also am on the staff of the local
Patch paper, a daily online local paper.
Look up your town on www.patch.com.
You can check out towns other than
your own, so you can see if anyone you
know has made the police log in, say,
California. This is a wonderful job.
And to see what I am up to check out
www.concord.patch.com. I also nap, do
crossword puzzles, and eat too much.
What peeves me: The use of the word
“elderly” in news reports. The Boston
Globe, I am pleased to note, no longer
uses the word. It is meaningless and
used only when the person in question
is not a bold-faced name. I have other
gripes: parents embarrassing their
children in public makes me crazy.
And I am not above speaking to the
parent.” ¶ Pat Thalheimer King offers,
“I had a volunteer experience which
I enjoyed and was very interesting. I
volunteered at our library for an ESL
class. I thought it would be teaching
English grammar (which I had done
before) but it turned out to be conversational English. Most of the students
were either Russian or Chinese. They
had lived through World War II and
the rise of Communism in China. I
helped with their conversation, and I
learned so much from them. Some of
their stories were unbelievable. I did
this for 5 years and had to stop, but
hope to go back again. ¶ Barbara Kelley
Kelley says, “Retirement has presented
me with opportunities to volunteer
in several ways. I particularly enjoy
my role as a foster grandparent in a
weekly playgroup at our parish church.
I have also been blessed by the opportunity to bring the Eucharist to several
housebound friends and to share time
with them. My husband Paul and
I host several discussion groups in
the Diocesan Arise program and an
ongoing book group. In it, we have
discussed the works of various authors,
recent favorites have been Anne Rice
and Fr. James Martin, SJ. Weekly I
“work” in a second grade classroom for
reading and a kindergarten for math

notes

at an age where we face many challenges. May God grant us grace and
strength to accept them.

1957

✒ Judith Sughrue, 47 Rosewood Dr.,

Stoughton, MA 02072, nettiedog@
comcast.net, 781-344-3357 ¶ It is good

34
REGIS TODAY

to hear that we are still on the go
although some adjustments are being
made. Sheila Cruchley Campbell is still
very active having journeyed across
the Pacific to Southeast Asia, China
and Japan and back to Alaska and
the west coast. She was in Thailand
when the street demonstrations were
going on and so she was detoured to
the countryside. Cynthis Souza Nakane
and her husband Paul continue their
love of ocean travel having crossed the
Panama Canal. But a pinched nerve
has somewhat restricted their travel.
Nevertheless, Cynthia still is tutoring studio children. ¶ Mary Hughes
Noonan is still active in educating
children. Brenda Murphy Dugan and
her husband Bill have abandoned
the long drive to Florida. They ship
their cars and fly down. Carol Noonan
Driscoll and her husband Tom have
banded with some friends to charter
a bus for a month in Florida. Others
are staying closer to home. ¶ After
many travels Nancy Cummings Collins
wrote that she and her husband stay
closer to home in Pennsylvania. Spud
Sanderson Kingsbury and Bob restrict
their travel to New England or where
they don’t have to face holdups at
airports. Fortunately, Regis is within
that range since her good news is that
she has been nominated to the Regis
Board of Trustees and will be making
many trips to Regis as it goes through
the selection of a new president. Since
there have been at least forty applicants Spud has a lot of reading to do.
My own travels have also narrowed
to driving distances, although I hope
to meet some of our classmates at
greater distances in 2011. ¶ Many of
our classmates attended our fall luncheon. Among them were: Elly Burke,
Carol Noonan Driscoll, Bebe Gannon
Brady, Rosemary Weidner Mahoney,
Nancy Swendeman Loud, Alice Scanlon
Cogliano, Helen Graham McGonigle,
Eileen Kelley Moynihan, and Pat
McCarron Petterson. ¶ Eighteen of
our class participated in the Annual
Memorial Liturgy in November when
our 2 deceased classmates from the
past year, Eleanor DiCarlo Golden and
Betty Martens Brockway, were remembered. ¶ We recently received the sad
news that Joan Keenan Kugler died in
2004. Joan was one of several Regis
57ers who went to D.C. for graduate
school, government work or both, along
with Renelle L’Hullier McLoughlin,
Carol Hurd Green, Rosemary Weidner
Mahoney, Liz Wilbur, Pat Handricken

Bell and myself. Joan was the only one

to remain in D.C. where she married,
had 3 children and a successful computer career. The rest of us scattered:
Pat to Florida, and Renelle to Virginia
while Carole, Rosemary, Liz and
myself came back home to the Boston
area. ¶ Although it took Rosemary
much longer after years in New York,
2 of her sons also settled here. But her
2 daughters moved to Colorado where
when last heard from Rosemary and
Kevin were flying to visit and take in
some western culture.

to her husband John and family. Our
sympathy also to Carol Vannicola
Clark, who lost her husband Paul,
last October. ¶ Carol Finnell Kenney
sends the following update: Every
summer a group of 8 get together for a
day, rotating the hostess duties. This
year it was Woods Hole and Carol’s
turn. In addition to Carol, the regular
attendees are Ina Catalanotti Roehr,
Marilyn Dozois Rohrer, Doris Good
Marr, Mary Anne O’Connor Dwyer, Pat
Graham Kelly, Tish Albiani Carney,
and Janet Duggan Hall. Sometimes
Pat Flanagan Neumann comes from
New York, but not this year. Rumor
has it that their next get together
will include Sheila Dugan Block and
Margo Johnson Hughes. Everyone is
busy with family and grandchildren;
Carol, Pat Neumann, Ina and Mary
Anne are still working. Marilyn has
moved from the Vineyard to Lake
Winnepausakee. And most of the
group spend some part of the winter
in Florida and try to meet for dinner.
They send wishes for good health to
all. ¶ Carol Howard and husband Jim
MacDonald have moved to The Forum,
a retirement community in Cupertino,
Calif. where they are enjoying constant
activities and delightful people. They
spent 3 weeks last fall touring Italy,
where they visited Sorrento, Tuscany
and Venice, and Carol is hoping that
they will be able to attend one of our
class gatherings in the near future.
Her new address is 23800 Amapolo
Crt., V-5, Cupertino, CA 95014. In
her letter she says, “A good reason to
make a donation to Regis is to stay in
touch—it is always fun for me to learn
what our classmates have been up
to.” Our long-term Fund Agent, Elaine
O’Connell Fitzpatrick , surely applauds
these sentiments! Elaine and husband
David had a busy fall as they followed
their 2 granddaughters’ swim teams
all over New England. ¶ Joan Meleski

Kenney traveled to Washington, D.C.
in January to see her son, Frederick
Kenney promoted to Rear Admiral
and installed as the Judge Advocate
General of the US Coast Guard—a
once-in-a-lifetime thrill! ¶ Peter and
Paula Kirby Macione attended the
Retired National Education Association
conference in New Orleans last June.
The highlight of the week was going
with a group to a town called Belle
Chase, where they worked on a public
school that was in need of painting and
landscaping. Also, Paula visited Mary
Downing Richard in November. Mary
would love to hear from classmates,
as she is housebound; her address is
300 Pintail Crescent, Virginia Beach,
VA 23456. ¶ As this column is being
written, one of the many blizzards
is roaring outside in Massachusetts.
However, John and Donna Coffey
Young are not worrying about such
things as they are in warm and sunny
Tucson, Ariz. visiting their daughter
and family. ¶ Speaking of warm and
sunny, please save Friday, May 20,
2011, the day of the wonderful Golden
Tower Luncheon. We have had a great
turnout from our class the past 2 years,
and hope for even more this year. It is
a wonderful opportunity to reconnect
and enjoy each other, and springtime
at Regis, all at no charge!

there are about 25 inches of snow on
the ground and the temperature is 10
degrees. Enough is enough! Florida is
looking better and better — can’t wait!
Once again we are searching for news
from the Class of ’59. We can only
report what we know and right now
we don’t know too much about what is
happening in your lives. Please, please
contact us! ¶ Janice Canniff Monteith,
Janet Clements Lavey, Louise Foucher
and Liz Russell Bilafer met for dinner
at Faneuil Hall in Boston just before
Christmas. Lots of great conversation and good food at The Chart
House. Janice and Louise met again
in January — this time for lunch in
Hingham, Mass. at Paul Walberg’s new
restaurant. Janice got to see Louise’s
apartment at the Shipyard. Louise has
a new grandson as does Jane McCarthy
Murphy. Jane is a little sad as her son,
Greg, his wife and new little Cooper
will be moving to Chicago in May.
Looks like a few trips to the Midwest
for Jane and Bill or maybe even for
Jane, Liz, and Janice. They will be
calling you Margie! The Christmas
luncheon at Morrison House was
lovely. It was a small turnout but once
again lots of chatter and good food.

Oct. 23, 2010. As a highly respected
educator in Boston, Nancy began her
career with a year in Alaska in the Lay
Apostolate. With a master’s degree
from BC, among her accomplishments,
Nancy was a Reading Supervisor for
the Title I program and a staff member
at Emmanuel College where she supervised student teachers. She continued
her involvement in the classroom
where she felt reading and literature
opened new worlds to children. Nancy
was on the Pastoral Council for the
Voice of the Faithful. ¶ Our sympathies also go to the families of Joan S.
Igoe Heywood and Patricia O’Connell
Milkowski who also passed away this
year. ¶ Joyce Kennerly Bohan and
husband Larry traveled to visit a new
grandbaby and family in New Orleans
for Thanksgiving, and another son
and family for Christmas in San
Francisco, Calif. Joyce, as a pastel
artist, works in figures and some landscapes. Recently she exhibited at the
Art By the Sea in Vero, Fla. ¶ Joyce
reported that Sheila Mahoney Mutrie
traveled to her condo in Sarasota,
Fla. in late January for a short time.

Margie Moriarty Swider came to Hobe

Sound in March for a couple of weeks.
Joyce tried to get a mini reunion going,
which included Mary Eileen Hurley
Mealy from Amelia Island, Fla. and
Ellen McCarthy McGrath from Ocala,
Fla. Also Laura Allen Rushton and I
are in the area. She thought there
were probably more classmates around
the East Coast of Florida. Do call or
email one of us to be included next
year. ¶ The St. Patrick’s Day Parade
in Naples, Fla. includes a Regis bus.
Joyce was there quite by accident last
year and discovered the bus and all
the fun. ¶ Brenda McCrann has been
tripping around. Last August, the
Danube River took her from the Black
Sea to Budapest with a side trip to
Transylvania and in March she stayed
in Torremolinos, Spain for 2 weeks
with visits to Malaga, The Alhambra,
Seville, Gibraltar and Morocco. In
between journeys, Brenda continues
math tutoring in the 1st grade and
courses at Regis’ Life Long Learning
Program (LLARC). ¶ Last October,
Barbara Norman Wihbey, Irene Demers
Lamson, and Brenda had a sleep over
at Lou McMurray Wishneski ’s home in
Connecticut. Due to Lou’s husband
Larry’s death in April, Lou did not
attend our reunion so a mini reunion
was called for. They shared many
happy memories of our days at Regis,
particularly our senior year on the top
front floor of Maria Hall where they
all lived. ¶ Mary Jane Doherty Curran
shares that she laughs a lot with her
new husband, Donald Cameron, and
she learned from her ballroom dancing
instructor that ballroom lessons are
the best way to ward off Alzheimer’s. ¶
The snow in New York was a challenge for Marilyn Stasio who reported
working harder than usual in the thick
of the theater season. She reviews
upwards of a dozen shows a month and
several with great performances from
stars like Al Pacino, Olympia Dukakis
(originally from Boston), and Alan
Rickman. “And bless its little soul, the
NY Times Book Review column keeps
me busy the rest of the work week.
P.S. Doesn’t anybody ever come to New
York?” ¶ Mary Duggan Kenney spends
winter months in Arizona. Mary had
8 children, most of whom still live
near her in Milton, Mass. She has 25
grandchildren and she is expecting
her 26th and 27th sometime this year.
Barbara Cunningham Sullivan and
Mary live in the same neighborhood.
Barbara has 6 children and therefore
“only” 16 grandchildren with the 17th
coming in May. The fun part is that
their children, at one time or another,
went to school together. Now the
grandchildren are in the same classes,
or on the same teams, or are in the
same plays, and are just very good
friends. It is amazing and so very nice.
¶ Catherine Keane Memory decided to

stay home this winter and enjoy her
lakefront home. “At some resorts they
have skiing and snowboarding, but
here we have recreational and fitness
snow shoveling!” Kay is enjoying her
little 18-month-old granddaughter,
Kate, who lives nearby. She has joined
a small group of professional women
in her neighborhood on Greenwood
Lake in Mansfield, Mass. They are
knitting afghans, mittens, hats, and
scarves for a local shelter, which is
very grateful for the hand-knit items. ¶
Mary Grover Rossetti and her husband
spent their 1st winter in Harwich,
Mass. and couldn’t believe their good
fortune in terms of the lack of snow.
They have 2 new grandchildren in the
past few months. A son and his family,
including new little John, just moved
to New Jersey, and their daughter
and her family are in Connecticut.
They make frequent trips to visit
both. Their younger son Joe lives in
Reading, Mass. and they see him more
frequently. Mary planned is a trip to
Italy in mid May for new granddaughter, Daria’s christening in Padua at
St. Anthony’s. Her dad is from there
so it is loads of fun to have his family
there to help us drink the wine and
eat the pasta! ¶ Anne Marie Volante
O’Neill and husband Fred enjoyed
a three week trip to Tibet, Nepal &
Bhutan in Sept. “We did it ALL while
we were there. Every day was an
exciting adventure.” Anne Marie made
2 trips to France this year for her
Quimper Pottery. In the US, she will
attend the Houston Antiques Dealers
Association’s large and wonderful
show. This past year she made 2 trips
to Telluride to visit son Brian and wife
Hilaree. They are featured in the new
Warren Miller ski movie. If anyone
plans to visit Tride, be sure to contact
Anne Marie. She notes “Fred and I ski
most weekdays in the winter and enjoy
it as much as we did 50 years ago!” ¶
Remember, if you have enjoyed reading
this, quickly email me to be included in
the next issue.

1961 50th Reunion

✒ Kate Martin Hawke, 4 Rockland

Road, Marblehead, MA 01945-1316,
frhawke@comcast.net ¶ Since I have

been assured that this edition of Regis
Today will be mailed in April, I will
give you my take on our upcoming 50th
reunion. I’ve been to several planning
meetings and have the feeling that we
will spend a great deal of time eating,
drinking, praying, and, most importantly, talking. A committee is working
on a DVD of our 4 years at Regis as
well as the years beyond. Our DVD
will be a 21st-century way of “holding
memories safe in our keeping.” ¶ I’ve
telephoned some classmates and have
enjoyed connecting with old friends
and renewing acquaintances with

35
SPRING 11

Attending that day were Dotty Kelley
Kelly; Mary Ann Kennedy Smith; Janice
Monteith; Marylou Holihan Hayes; Kay
O’Connor Johnson; Mary Courtney,
who drives from Northampton each
month for the luncheons; Joan Connell
MacLeod; Barbara O’Neil Natale, whose
son Paul will be getting married this
spring; Gerry Chase; Carol Donovan;
Liz Bilafer; Marie Cronin and, of course,
our hostess Dr. Mary Jane England.
Some travel news that day: Gerry
Chase is off to Australia in the spring,
Kay will be attending her daughter’s
wedding in Switzerland, and Liz will
be going to Alaska in June. ¶ Trisha
O’Hearn Hilsinger has sold her home in
Belmont, Mass. and is now living in a
lovely condo in Burlington, Mass. Life
is a lot easier for Trisha now. No more
shoveling! Ann Tiernan wrote again
this Christmas that she is staying
very busy, especially travelling to visit
her brother in San Diego, Calif. and
more travel to her favorite area, the
Southwest, exploring pueblos, canyons,
and mountains in Arizona and New
Mexico. While in New Mexico, Ann visited Marie Vasaturo White ’56, a Regis
grad who remained in New Mexico
after spending a year as a Lay Apostle
in Santa Fe, N.M. Marie was a friend
of Ann’s sister, Kay. ¶ Book recommendations: Liz really enjoyed Cutting
for Stone by Abraham Verghese and
Maureen recommends Hotel on The
Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie
Ford. Can’t wait for Spring!

notes

36

women I did not know as well. Agnes
Reardon Sughrue, who runs a detective
agency with her husband Richard, has
been an incredible finder of lost classmates. In a short period of time she has
located people on whom the Alumni
Office had almost given up. I was able
to put Catherine O’Connell Gallivan in
touch with her long-lost friend Ellen
Conway Bond. Mimi Nyhan Deignan
was happy to get Jane Nagle Joyce’s
telephone number since both now live
in Boston. Agnes O’Hara Barrett was
able to visit Connie O’Brien Skahan at
Thanksgiving; both have daughters living in the same community in Georgia.
After 25 years, I was able to contact
Liz (the former Betty) Boyle Brazier
who now lives in Williamsburg, Va.
Many of you have probably lost touch
with women with whom you shared car
pools, seminar rooms, dorms, dates,
etc. Won’t it be wonderful in May to
reconnect, share memories, and catch
up on the past 50 years?!

with classmates about that January 50
years ago when JFK was inaugurated,
I was chastised for forgetting that we
had our own Inaugural Ball. Though
I do remember THE poster and, I
THINK, his picture, with the caption:
“From a Regis Prom to the Presidency.”
In her new memoir I Remember
Nothing, Nora Ephron — she attended
that women’s college on the other end
of Wellesley Street — recalls forgetting
about meeting Eleanor Roosevelt in
June of 1961 when, as a political intern
at the Kennedy White House, she was
invited to Hyde Park. “I idolized the
woman. I couldn’t believe I was going
to be in the same room with her. So
what was she like that day in Hyde
Park, you may wonder. I HAVE NO
IDEA.” ¶ I have no idea why I goofed,
sending Sandy Rossi’s email to Dotti
DeNave Rossi and vice versa. Mea
Culpa, Sandy and Dotti. Both Joanne
Fitzgerald McCrea and Helene Swiatek
Savicki think I was having a “JUNIOR
MOMENT.” Joanne, still serving on
the Massachusetts Commission on
the Status of Women, is considering
joining the Peace Corps. Why not?
Her daughter Meghan is a lawyer for
the U.S. Department of Education
and her husband, Peter Blake, after
completing his doctorate at Harvard
in Childhood Development, recently
joined its faculty. Helene and Bill
Savicki’s daughters Mary Beth and
Melissa — in less than 4 years — presented them with 5 granddaughters. A
very frequent commuter to Providence
and Cambridge where they live, Helene

still has time to chair book, bridge,
garden, and golf clubs in her new
year-round hometown of Dennis, Mass.
Though Dotti and Bill Rossi are equally
busy visiting their 5 offspring and their
children who “are all over the map,”
they have decided, quipped Dotti, to
“age in place, whatever that means!” In
addition to teaching at George Mason
University and volunteering for several
social service groups, Dotti belongs to 3
book clubs, a prayer group and is starting a Writer’s Circle. And as for Sandy
Rossi, she recently emailed Helene
that she is now a great grandmother! “I
am Nonna to my dear 1-year-old baby
girl named Layla Lynn. I don’t see
her often enough as she is in Denver.
Who knew I’d live to see that?!” ¶
Carol O’Brien Barton, like many of
our classmates, spends her winters
in “The Sunshine State,” not “The
Snowbound State.” But she and Jim,
since moving to Plymouth, Mass. 12
years ago, consider that historic town
their “real home.” From mid-March to
Thanksgiving, Carol applies her considerable business and educational skills
at Plimouth Plantation where she
meets “people from all over the world.”
Though sons Jim and Kevin “aren’t far
away in Medfield and Hopedale, Mass.,
daughter Denise is in San Francisco,
Calif.” So, like so many in our class, the
Bartons are frequent fliers and drivers.
Yet, the Cape still seems to be where
many hang their straw hats. ¶ Carole
Kennedy Nassab and husband Fuad
flew west to enjoy the holidays with
one of their 4 offsprings and his family,
and were gifted by the convergence of
all of their younger generations; what
a pajama party that was! ¶ Joanne
Bellucci and husband Tom Harding
phoned from Shrewsbury in Dec.; by
now, they hoped to be thawed and
enjoying their place in Fla. ¶ Mary
Alice Gilmore and her family were
expecting a move to O’ahu, thanks to
a transfer for her son-in-law, but now
looks like a different geography for
them. You can imagine my enthusiasm
for that 1st possibility and my disappointment that corporate bureaucrats
are interfering with Hawaii’s menehune’s merry mischief-making. ¶ Betsy
Comeau Kadehjian and husband Art
continue to enjoy life in Belmont, with
summers and some weekends in New
Hampshire. ¶ Cathy Norris Norton
was in touch to say that after 30 years
at the Marine Biology Laboratory at
Woods Hole, in her semi-retirement
she’ll still be involved in its grants’
pursuits, including via global traveling as a library scholar. Hopefully,
some of our class will get to see her
before she heads to Zanzibar in the
fall. ¶ Dottie Sokol Schmeeckle sent
a long-distance hug via her husband’s
daughter who had moved to Maui. She
and I had a lovely lunch in January. ¶
In Rosemary Shannon Robbins’ islands

world, they’re counting their blessings: Rosemary at 2000+ feet up Mt.
Haleakala and her son Chris Kimo
and daughter-in-law Mary Annrom the
27th floor of a Honolulu high rise. ¶
She gets her fun city fix there about 5
times a year, then flies home to smell
the flowers: literally. Still active in
church and community affairs, she is
continuing to teach as a substitute in
the state’s DOE, swim most days and
treasure unadulterated sunsets and
subtropical starlight nights. Phone
calls from her adopted Russian grandson and family in Bedford and summertime visiting with them keep me tuned
to what life will somewhat be like when
the Filipino grandchildren arrive in
Honolulu: Chapters yet to be written.
¶ Patti Cusack Morrison and husband
Bill are in Chatham, Mass. Two of
Patti’s pals from both Dedham and
Regis ’62 — Eleanor Forrest Fisher of
Pasadena, Md. and Mary Lord Mahoney
of Manchester, Conn.—both have summer residences there. As does Mary
McCauley Higgins who chairs our 50th
Reunion Committee and has asked me
to remind you to send donations for
our Reunion Gift to Regis to her at 6
Eastmount Rd. Medfield, MA 02052.
“We can take pride in contributing
to the future of Regis,” writes Mary,”
and at the same time commemorate
the 4 years we spent preparing for our
future. Go REGIS.” And before I forget,
how about sending me some NEWS?

class of 1963…(sounds so long ago,
doesn’t it?) ¶ I just returned from a 30minute walk — my New Year’s resolution. It was beautiful with the sun on
pristine snow, but very cold. I find I
can meditate easier when surrounded
by nature — is it an age-related issue?
I’d like to think it is wisdom. Elly Keilty
Svab sent me an interesting item: I
have never read a book by Dennis
Lehane, but lots of readers like him.
In his novel, Prayers for Rain, on page
78, he writes: “Where we going? Just
away. This town has eyes, Mr. Kenzie.”
So we left Weston … traveling 40 miles
an hour down half empty roads. A
few more quick directives … and we
pulled into a parking lot behind Saint
Regina’s College. Regina’s was an allfemale, private Catholic college, where
the middle class and pious tucked
away their daughters in hopes that
somehow they’d forget about sex. It
had the opposite effect, of course; when
I’d been in college, we’d made several
Friday night pilgrimages out here and
came home mauled and a bit dazed by

my email request for news recently,
I asked classmates to share their
experiences with volunteer projects,
appropriate as many of us are transitioning to retirement and have time to

devote to these important opportunities. We love to hear about interesting
travel, some trips include volunteer
work. Virginia collected news from
classmates that attended the October
dinner. Thanks for writing. ¶ Nancy
Broderick Berquist’s volunteer work
over the past years has been very
rewarding, in fact, life altering. In
2008 she traveled to Guatemala with
Habitat for Humanity. Last year continuing with Habit for Humanity, she
traveled to Colombia, South America
and is returning this February with
13 others from her church. “We will
be working on the island of Baru, but
staying in Cartehagna. We have been
raising money to build more homes
in Colombia. It costs $2800 to build
a simple house about the size of a 2
car garage. So far I have raised about
$2000 just by sending out letters to
family and friends.” Nancy has offered
more details upon her return. ¶ Mary
Ford, aka Mef, describes her new
involvement at the Boston Trauma
Center. She is working with traumatized adults in a research study using
computer games. The project attempts
to train the brain to more optimal
functioning using neurofeedback.
Mef was hoping to go to Haiti, to do
some of this trauma work, through
her Maryknoll connections there. ¶
Kathy McKenna volunteers for RFBD,
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
in Cambridge. ¶ Pat Luben O’Hearn is
becoming more involved with Adopt
a Student, as a mentor. Pat has been
traveling, to Bolivia last spring, to
visit a life-long friend in Cochabamba,
where she found the people “beautiful, kind, soft spoken and empathetic.”
She also enjoyed a pilgrimage to Italy
and Turkey. ¶ Marcia Karbowniczak
Petrillo, CEO of Qualidigm, has been
named a finalist at the Nonprofit
Heroes Awards ceremony, held June 10
at the Connecticut Convention Center.
Marcia was recognized for being a
pioneer in the field of health care
improvement, having led Qualidigm
and its predecessor organization for 35
years. She has developed the organization into a 50-person consulting firm
known for continually advancing the
quality, safety and cost-effectiveness
of health care. Throughout Marcia’s
career, she has set an inspirational
example of social responsibility serving
numerous non profit boards, committees and other community-focused
initiatives, such as Dress for Success,
the Connecticut Food Bank, naming a
few. Marcia was the keynote speaker
at the 2007 Women Who Dare Series,
a speaker series which she helped
to launch. Marcia and her husband
live in Bloomfield, Conn. ¶ Julie
Marchesseault Holzer explained, “life
will be different for me in 2011 — I’ve
just moved my real estate license from
active status into a referral network.

Spending our winter months in Florida
the last 3 years meant I was missing
some of the most active months in the
New Jersey, market, so this decision
makes sense.” Julie made a visit to
Vermont this past fall and caught up
with 2 former classmates who live
in the same town, Mary Byrnes and
Susan Baker Olson — “it was great to
get re-acquainted and reminisce!” ¶
Ted and Lucille Demers Reilly reside
in Atlanta, Ga. and have for the past
17 years. They love retirement and do
not know how they found time to work.
With their 3 children and 6 grandchildren scattered they travel a lot:
New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
Once a year they really try get to
Massachusetts to Lucille’s brother’s
summer home in Falmouth. She is still
doing aerobic dancing which she has
done for 30+years. Lucille and Ted golf
(he much more) and love their garden.
They have become Southerners with
a Boston accent! This year they are
spending 4 months in New Jersey,
on the shore, to help their daughter
Kathleen who is expecting #3. This
is reverse snowbirds. They are in the
routine of school drop off, pick up,
ballet, karate, basketball, etc. Deja vu!
They are enjoying the cold and snow
that they do not get in Atlanta and
really love seeing the grandchildren
everyday. With one son and family
close by in Bedford, N.Y., they get to
see those 2 little granddaughters quite
often. Another son lives in Northern
Virginia working at the Pentagon. It
was so nice to hear from Lucille, we
have not had an email from her, and
thanks to Mary Crane Fahey we are
connected. ¶ Sue Sullivan Gabler and
her husband Ray are both retired since
2004. After corporate careers involving
computer programming, technical writing, and computer marketing and sales
they spent more than 15 years in their
own marketing and sales business for
computer hardware & software. When
they retired they moved away from the
congestion and bustle of Silicon Valley
to a rural property adjacent to the
Sierra Nevada foothills. They are about
1 1/2 hours south of Yosemite National
Park and 1 hour west of Kings Canyon
and Sequoia National Parks. Hence the
view of snow capped mountains but no
snow to deal with unless they choose
to visit these parks. ¶ Ray & Sue took
a Princess Cruise through the Panama
Canal in October. The full transit
through the canal was fascinating and
took an entire day. The Gablers will be
traveling to visit their lawyer daughter, living and working in Brussels and
their Air Force Pilot son and his wife,
who are stationed in South Korea.
Another son lives in California. ¶
Maureen Shea Dolan and her husband
John are in Naples, Fla. until April
and she plans to join other fellow
alums on the Regis trolley for the St.

37
SPRING 11

the ferocity of good Catholic girls and
their pent-up appetites.” Well, does
anyone want to comment? Email Jane
at edleger@aol.com ¶ Two of our classmates who spend the winter in Florida
tell us that life is wonderful and very
relaxed there. Mary Dowd Eberle is
actually a Florida resident. She spends
most of her time in Naples, Fla., enjoying the sun and surf, and volunteering
at the local humane society. Mary
comes up north to West Roxbury,
Mass. for the summer, reconnecting
with her siblings, nieces, and nephews.¶ Sheila Schroeder Feeney and
husband Bob spent 4 months in Estero,
Fla. and Sheila tells us that she and
Mary rendezvous from time to time.
Water aerobics and bocce ball keep
Sheila very fit! When up north in Hull,
Mass. she is active in the St. Vincent
de Paul Society, and also devotes time
to Pastoral Care in her parish. ¶ Each
summer, Sheila and classmates Jane
Birmingham Murphy and Clare Lafferty
Driscoll take a little road trip together
to a destination with “water”…lake,
river, or ocean. One of these times they
may try the mountains! Sheila has 2
married daughters, one in California,
the other in Massachusetts. Her
8-year-old granddaughter lives close
by for fun times with the grandparents. ¶ Carol Rush Vento, who lives in
Newton, Mass. with husband Charlie,
recently retired as a patient services
manager for a breast MRI company.
She spends her leisure time at many
of the grandchildren’s sporting events
both at Bryant University in Rhode
Island and at the local high school.
Cheerleading comes naturally to Carol!
She also spends time running after her
little 2-year-old grandson, which keeps
grandma in shape. No need to go to the
gym! ¶ Jane DeMarco Wittreich loves
having her 2 granddaughters, ages
10 and 7, living close by and being a
part of their lives. Her other 2-yearold granddaughter Michaela, named
after her late husband Mike, lives in
Manhattan. She finds that combining
a trip back to Darien, Conn. to visit
good pals and then continuing on to
New York to take Michaela to the park
works out very well. Jane and her
husband George are planning a winter
getaway this year to Australia and
New Zealand. The Maori civilization
has intrigued them both.

notes

38
REGIS TODAY

Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Naples on
Mar. 12. ¶ Judy Higgins Donahue and
her husband spend most of their time
in The Villages, Fla. Judy would love
to connect with other classmates who
are in the region. She is working as a
volunteer Guardian Ad Litem in the
Fifth Circuit Judicial Court, representing the interests of children in cases
involving abuse or neglect. She writes
that it is very meaningful and fulfilling
work. Judy’s daughter Janie recently
accepted a job as Episcopal Chaplain
at MIT. Now she and her husband
have a child in Massachusetts for the
1st time — as well as a small granddaughter. They are looking forward to
spending more time in the Boston area.
Judy taught a public relations course
at Regis this past summer, relating
that teaching at one’s alma mater is
a special experience. The Donahues
spend the summer season in Bristol,
N.H. ¶ It is with great sadness that I
inform you of the death of our classmate, Mary Diane Wixted Hayes, on
Sept. 4, 2010. Mary earned her JD
and LLM from Suffolk Law School,
Master’s degrees in Religious Ed and
Theology from Boston College, and STL
from Weston SJ School of Theology.
Her professional associations included
American Immigration Lawyers,
Women Lawyers, a past president, and
the Irish Pastoral Centre. Mary was
a Eucharistic Minister, bringing communion to the ill and elderly as well
as a member of the 3rd order of Saint
Francis. Her memory was celebrated
at the annual Mass for deceased Regis
alums last November. We celebrate
her wonderful Christian dedication. ¶
Please send news, comments, to your
reporters, Best wishes!

her family lived in Maine for several
years. Our prayers and condolences go
out to them. She was remembered at
the Annual Memorial Liturgy on Nov.
14, 2010. We also send our sympathy
to Patricia Gaumond Kazierski on the
loss of her mother. I received some
nostalgic thoughts from Mary Ellen
Lavenberg. 2011 is a banner year for
the class of 1965. Fifty years ago, in
1961, we formed those friendships as
Regis freshmen that we all treasure
and thrive on. A vivid memory is an
October retreat weekend. During meditation time, Mel and her 4 roommates
styled hair, tried on make-up, and
sung and clapped along with the record
player to the tune Deep in the Heart
of Texas. This was followed by a visit
from the Dean of Students. Somehow
that 1st visit never allowed Mel to get

out of her sight. Mary Margaret
Wolohan Griffin shared profes-

sional and family news. Her
daughter Mary Margaret
was married in Oct. 2009 in
Boothbay Harbor, Maine,
where Mary Margaret’s family
has a summer cottage. Mary
Margaret’s 2 sons have 4 children between them. Although
she loved her job as a commercial artist, it disappeared in the
cutbacks of late 2007. She is
currently having great fun in
her position as a tour guide in
Boston. ¶ Our class President
and Regis Alumni Board
member Katherine Moynihan
McGovern was on the committee for the Holly Tea, which
was Dec. 5. Our classmate Anne
Herron Healy was also present; her daughter Lisa, who
makes beautiful jewelry, was a
vendor at the craft fair. Kathy
and her husband Bernie enjoyed a bus
trip through Colorado in August and
spent a couple of weeks in Florida in
November. They were looking forward
to Florida this winter and Kathy
hoped to be on the Regis trolley at
the Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
¶ Carole Gronki McCarthy shared the
joyous news of the August birth of
her grandson Luke Andrew (her son
David and wife Alyson are the proud
parents). Luke joins his sister Brynn
Violet. In the fall, Carole spent several
days visiting with Sally Daily Buckler
in Maryland. While there , Carole pursued her genealogy research. Carole
related the exciting news that Kathleen
Henighan is establishing a Regis nursing scholarship in her mother’s name!
Kathy’s mother was a nurse for many
years. Kathleen Henighan reports that
Valerie Valenti Cloutier is retired and
living in Rehobeth Beach, Del. Valerie
is active in politics. ¶ Melanie Varol
Cashio reports the May 2010 birth
of her 2nd grandson Nicolas Matteo.
Parents are Melanie’s daughter
Lara and her husband Oscar. Much
to Melanie’s delight they all live in
Charlotte, NC. Mel anticipates retiring
in June and thus being able to spend
more time with Regis friends. ¶ In
February, Gail Hoffman Burke and her
husband Walter eagerly anticipated
the birth of their 3rd grandchild. ¶
Deirdre Casey joined fellow alums on
a fabulous trip to Tuscany. Kathleen
Henighan and Anne Marie Fontaine
Healey took a memorable trip to the
Panama Canal. They are a perfect
travel pair; Kathy composes the travel
log and Anne Marie snaps the pictures.
In September, I enjoyed watching an
afternoon session at the U.S. Open in
Flushing Meadows, N.Y. with Joanne
Massey Howes and her husband Dick.
The following day, Joanne and I had
lunch with Louise Sciubba Young. In

A Reminder
Class Notes for the Fall 2011 issue
are due September 1, 2011; each class
is limited to 750 words.
You are invited to submit articles
and news that are of interest to your
classmates. If you know of any alum
who would make an interesting profile
subject, please let us know that, too.
News may be submitted to your class
reporter or to the Office of Alumni
Relations, Regis College, 235 Wellesley
St., Weston, MA 02493 or email:
classnotes@regiscollege.edu. Notes
received after September 1, 2011
will run in a later issue.

October, Joanne, Louise, Kathleen
Davis Sparrough, and I had a delightful
visit in Southampton, Long Island with
Carol Jewell Hunt and her husband
Jay. Carol’s work was shown in the
“January Gallery Selections” at the
Spanierman Modern Gallery in New
York City. This year, she was selected
to design the poster for the “Artists
of the Spring 40th Annual Exhibit”
(Ashawagh Hall) in Easthampton, N.Y.
¶ I would like to send special thanks to
Gail Hoffman Burke for all her support
and input as I take on this new role
and to Carole Gronki McCarthy for
writing the previous column. I very
much appreciate hearing from each of
you and look forward to receiving more
news. ¶ For those who will be attend-

ing special high school reunions this
year, Enjoy! Be well and keep in touch.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
walk in Adams, Mass. that raised
over $2,000. Our classmates walked
in support of Pat Grosz Korzendorfer,
who has been battling ovarian cancer
for several years and who died in early
Feb. 2011. ¶ Mary Beth Govoni Cormier
volunteered to design and purchase
t-shirts for the group to wear. They
were blue for ovarian cancer with
“Pat’s Pals” written above a caricature
of a group running. One had red hair
and Pat related to that! Very, very
sadly, just 4 days before the October
2010 walk, Mary Beth’s husband Jim
died after a brief diagnosis of extreme
pulmonary fibrosis. Mary Beth was

class
She and Rick have a daughter, Laura,
who is a junior in college. ¶ Jeanne
Gianturco Jaroszewski lives in Melrose,
Mass. She works as a consultant to
the MA DOT. She has 3 children and
shared pictures of her daughter’s wedding which Pat Grosz also attended as
part of an extended vacation Pat and
Jeanne had in California. Everyone
had a fabulous communal dinner
Saturday night featuring Jeanne’s
Italian sauce and entrees and yummy
contributions from everyone. Everyone
talked, laughed, prayed, laughed,
caught up with one another, and
laughed more. The weather and foliage
for the walk could not have been more
perfect. There were balloons, tents,
speakers, and refreshments. But the
best part was Pat and Marion cheering
them on. “We dedicated our walk to
Pat, to Ginny and Judy’s mothers, and
to our Regis classmates who died from
breast cancer, as well as to our classmates who are breast cancer survivors.
The 5 miles went by quickly and we
really didn’t want it to end. Pat looked
great. She is an inspiration to us. And
she added a lot to the conversations
and the laughter.” ¶ That description
of the walk just about says it all in
describing the Regis connections we
still have after 42 years! ¶ Barbara
Bouchard Haggerty and husband Peter
are planning another trip to Hawaii to
visit their younger son Marc and his
wife Jess. Fortunately, their son Eric
(an award-winning chef) and his wife
Erin are close by in Massachusetts
so they can visit and share holidays
with little travel. Barbara and Tish
are beginning to plan a trip to Italy
with a possible excursion to Vienna.
¶ Kathy McFarland Kelly is residing in
a Florida golfing community with her
passionate golfer-husband Dennis.
Meanwhile, they have 2 utterly adorable grandsons from their son and his
wife in Connecticut. Daughter Maggie
is back in Madrid teaching ESL. We
(DM and Tish) are looking forward
to our rapidly approaching wine tour
in May, when we plan to “taste” the
areas around Lake Constance, Basel,
and perhaps venture into Austria
if time allows. This has become an
annual highlight and a fun Regis minireunion. ¶ We hope another classmate
or 2 will want to keep the class connected, as Tish and I have decided for
various family reasons that this will be
our last column as class reporters. It’s
easy to do with email, so please buddy
up with someone, contact the Alumni
Office and volunteer for the next few
rounds. Best to all from both of us!

sure we are all (at least those of us
in the cold climates) looking forward
to spring and better weather. Fortytwo years ago we were preparing for
graduation and the beginning of a new
life. Hopefully we are just as excited
about what the future will bring. ¶ Ted
and I went on a wonderful 21-day trip
to Europe (mostly Italy) in September
to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We
spent 5 days in Rome (great), a 10-day
cruise of the Mediterranean (9 ports in
10 days) and then 5 days in a villa in
Tuscany outside of Florence. It was an
exciting trip but a bit ambitious for “old
farts” like us. It took us 2 weeks to rest
up from our “vacation.” ¶ I received
a lengthy email from Nancy Wilcox
Dowling in November. She has lived in
Solon, Ohio (outside of Cleveland) for
29 years and has been single for over
25 years. Nancy has 2 grown daughters. One daughter is married and lives
in Manhattan with her husband and 2
children. The other daughter lives in
North Carolina and is engaged. Nancy
spent the last 37 years in education.
She was a guidance counselor for most
of that time, but most recently spent
time implementing and coordinating an International Baccalaureate
Program at the high school level. She
is now retired but still serves on the
Executive Board for the Ohio Assoc. for
IB World Schools. Nancy is enjoying
retirement, or as she puts it, “life at a
more leisurely pace.” Photography is
her passion and she enjoys sharing her
skills. She has been able to combine
this passion with another, travel, and
has visited and photographed over 36
countries. Nancy also does volunteer
work, takes classes at the community
college, works out, and takes tap dance
classes. Sounds like her days are full. ¶
I hope that you all have similar stories,
that God has blessed you with good
health and the ability to follow your
“passions,” whatever they may be. ¶
Nancy started her email by saying she
had resolved to send me some items
for the class notes for the past several
years but her good intentions were
put to the bottom of the “to do” list.
Perhaps you are doing the same. Well,
sit down now and send me some info.
I can only report the information you
send me. We all would love to hear
from you especially if you are retired
and have all that time on your hands.
Seriously, drop me an email.

1969

classmates. I do hope 2011 has been
kind to you and yours. Here’s a bit of
class news. ¶ Last December Anne
Black Recchia, Dede Dalton-Martell
and I headed from Boston’s north shore
to the Cape for a Regis Hollyfest where

amazingly strong, with the support of
her 2 beautiful children, Jimmy and
Stephanie, and many friends and relatives. They remain in our hearts and
prayers. Mary Beth wanted everyone
to continue the walk without her, but
she was with the group in spirit. ¶
Maryanne Skeiber Burtman drove from
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. where she lives
with her husband Tim. They are now
both retired. Maryanne retired from
teaching in May 2010 so she’s learning
the “retirement” ropes. So far, she has
the wake up, drink coffee, and read
the paper part down, but she’s looking
to get involved in volunteering soon.
She vacationed recently in Italy. They
have 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren.
¶ Sandy Kowalski Diaferio drove up
from Trenton, N.J. where she lives
with her husband Fred, who is retired.
Sandy still works full time at ETS in
Princeton, N.J. Her parents live in
Adams, Mass. so she combined the
walk with a visit with her family. She
and Fred built a house in Vermont and
plan to move there once they sell the
house in New Jersey. Then Sandy will
join the ranks of the retired. ¶ Marion
Marascio Voorheis drove down from
South Burlington, Vt., and that alone
was quite an accomplishment. Marion
had been on a trip to Japan with
exchange students when she broke
her leg. She had surgery in Japan and
was recovering at home. Amazing!
Marion lives with her husband Pat,
who is retired, and continues as head
of the Biology Department at South
Burlington High School. Her daughter Alexis gave birth in the fall of
2010 to a beautiful baby, Addison. A
baby is born and so is a grandmother.
Congratulations, Marion. ¶ Linda
Gaioni Dranchak took the train from
Bath, Maine, to Boston and rode
with Tricia Nelson Cross and Judy
Lauch to Williamstown, Mass. Linda
and husband John work out of their
home. Linda has a successful quilting
business and enjoys her 3 children
(who live in Maine, California and
Florida) and 2 grandchildren. Tricia
Cross lives in St. Augustine, Fla., with
her husband Burt. She combined the
walk with a visit to see children live
in Bristol, R.I., and Topsfield, Mass.
Tricia and Burt have 6 children and
13 grandchildren. Burt is retired and
Tricia manages an oral surgeon’s
organization in Florida. ¶ Judy Lauch
drove from Boston, where she lives
with her husband Bill. Bill is retired
(getting a trend of retired husbands??).
Judy works part time as an administrative consultant to non-profits,
and is currently at City Year, Inc.
and, as a member of the Regis Board
of Trustees, she was able to update
everyone on campus activities. ¶ Ginny
Giuliani Davis lives in Andover, Mass.,
with her husband Rick. Ginny works
as a nurse at Mount Auburn Hospital.

notes

40
REGIS TODAY

classmate Kathleen Murphy Lockwood
gave a reading from her book, Major
League Bride. I have to admit that
although I had purchased her book,
I hadn’t read up to that point. Her
personal reading was so intriguing
that I started it that evening. She led
a life, directly out of college and into
the next 10 years, unlike most of our
fellow classmates! She has been doing
quite a few “sports talk” radio shows
over the phone and has had a few
speaking events this past spring to
promote her book. She admitted that so
far the cost of travel far outweighs the
compensation, but finds the experience
invaluable. ¶ I spoke to Carol Cellucci
Douillard who has lived in Randolph,
N.J. for the past 13 years. Prior to that
she and her family lived in Worcester,
Mass. for 20 years, where she taught
math and science in junior high school,
and husband, Paul, was academic dean
at Assumption College. When they
moved Paul joined Caldwell College
as VP and Dean of Faculty and is now
academic dean at the College of Mt. St.
Vincent in the Bronx, N.Y. Carol and
Paul have 4 children; Danielle, 38, is
married, lives in New York and is an
executive with Jacoby & Meyers law
firm. She has 3 children. Twins Kristin
and Laura are 36. Kristin is married
and works with children with autism,
and Laura is married to a Federal
agent and lives in Bridgewater, N.J.
and has 3 children. Son, Joseph is 32
and is recently married. Carol was
sorry not to have been in touch with
fellow classmates over the years, and
would love to hear from Judy Doherty
and Sue Dowd Adams. She concluded
by saying she and Paul are very
anxious to return to Massachusetts
with retirement just around the
corner. ¶ Ellie Ryan Devlin has found
herself in the role of “caretaker” as
many of us can relate to these days.
Knowing her Aunt El Ryan ’39 needed
some assistance, Ellie moved into her
aunt’s home in Brighton 6 years ago.
With her mother in a nursing home,
Ellie also visits her father, Bud, daily.
Along with the many rewards of giving back to her family, Ellie enjoys
taking her aunt and father to various
Mt. St. Joseph and Regis events. (Her
Aunt El was a graduate of both the
Mount and Regis, and her father was
a trustee of both institutions.) This
past winter, the 3 of them were able
to enjoy a Signature Event at Regis
honoring Sister Thèrèse Higgins.
Along with spending time with her
father and aunt, Ellie is committed to
her long-standing tutoring business.
In her spare time, Ellie spends proud
moments with her 1st grandchild,
Abigail Rose Devlin, daughter of Kevin
and Meaghan who live in Norwood,
Mass. Ellie also works part time at
Talbot’s in Wellesley, Mass. where
she’s had many surprise visits from

local Regis classmates. ¶ Please shoot
me an email, check out Facebook, or
yes, even pick up the phone! I’d love to
hear from more of you, classmates.

1973

1972

our classmates in New England are
successfully weathering this incredible
winter! ¶ Pam Sampson writes that
she is working as a social worker for
the Natick Service Council and that
she has another grandchild, Molly,
age 2, who joins her brother Brandon,
age 5. This year she moved to a condo
in Sherborn, Mass. where she is very
happy. ¶ Ginny Lopez Morrissey and
her husband Phil write that all is
well in the Pacific Northwest. Ginny
reports that she working a few days
a week in the office of their parish
school, and that Phil is doing a little
consulting work, but trying not to let
that get in the way of his retirement.
Their daughter Christine, age 25, is
teaching pre-school in Bellevue after
graduating from the University of
Portland 2 years ago, and their son
Jimmy, age 22, will graduate in June
with a degree in Business from the
University of Washington in Seattle,
Wash. He has been accepted into the
Teach for America program and has
been assigned to Baltimore, Md. As
they lived in Silver Spring, Md. when
Phil was at the National Institutes
of Health, they are looking forward
to having an excuse to visit there
again! ¶ Dee Rando Hampe relates
that she has transitioned from public
school teaching in Walpole to teaching art education at BU. She had been
and continues to teach Teaching Art
Grades 5-12 on campus and has been
observing student teachers in the
field. In addition, she wrote and have
been teaching Curriculum Planning,
a course required in the online art
education masters program at BU, and
she has been designing and delivering
professional development workshops
for teachers to share curriculum and
to engage art educators and others
who want to learn in studio practice,
including her favorite, the plein-air
workshop that she led last summer.
She has converted her garage to an
art studio with heat, water, and a
bathroom and “escapes as much as
possible.” She just received an honorable mention in the juried Plymouth
Art Association fall exhibit for a pastel
landscape and she paints and collages
as much as time permits. ¶ I am still
running my research laboratory at the
Schepens Eye Research Laboratory,
writing grants, and teaching. My big
adventure is that I will be traveling to
Bangladesh in April to visit my daughter Elizabeth who is there doing a
research project in Political Science on
a Fulbright Fellowship and pursuing
her love of photography. She is blogging from there in case you are interested to hear about life in Bangladesh:

an email from an unfamiliar address
and inquiries to its author went unanswered but thanks to this anonymous
source I have a report. A weekend
reunion took place last September at
Jini Brooks Tarnef’s vacation home
on the Jersey Shore. Attending were
Marie Sullivan, Sherida Moss Daley, Pat
Touhy Leonardi, Mary Ann Connelly,
Barbara George ’71 and Kathy Burns,
a member of our class for 3 years.
Elaine Oczkowski Wallace missed
the weekend because of a very busy
schedule with a new grandchild and
her 2nd son’s wedding. ¶ The group
gathers every year for a weekend of
sharing the year’s ups and downs and
news of graduations, travels, weddings,
children, and grandchildren. They have
held their get-togethers at Marie’s
summer home in Little Compton, R.I.,
Barbara’s in Matunuck, R.I., Pat’s in
Old Lyme, Conn. and in New York
City. We have some of their news.
Sherida retired from teaching last
June and is enjoying her grandchildren
and traveling with her husband. Mary
continues in her long career working for the Commonwealth Health
and Human Services. Pat enjoys her
summers in Old Lyme, Conn. and
continues to travel, most recently visiting her daughter during a semester
abroad in London. Her daughter is a
senior, majoring in Communications
at Syracuse University. Marie is a
nurse anesthetist at Lahey Clinic and
travels the globe, sometimes to see the
perfect eclipse in China or Egypt. Jini’s
2 sons have graduated college and are
pursuing their careers. Her daughter will be graduating this year. Jini
travels frequently with her husband
and enjoys her 2 homes in New Jersey.
Kathy Burns is a Director of Services
for homeless and underprivileged families on Cape Cod. She is also the proud
mother of 3 adult children. Barbara
George ’71 lives in Massachusetts and
is retired from a career in software
consulting. She and her husband enjoy
winter skiing at their home in New
Hampshire and summers in Rhode
Island. ¶ In an effort to not write about
the same people frequently I’m afraid
there is only one other bit of news.
Helen Weathers Elliott has retired from
her position as Director of Community
Outreach at Brookdale College. Helen
has no plans to sit still and I hope she
will let us know what comes next. ¶
Send news and be well!

✒ Patricia A. D’Amore, 50 Jane

Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459,
pattidamore@gmail.com ¶ Hope all

class

1974

retirement. Or maybe, starting a 2nd
career — I was working as an architect
until the recession stymied the building industry. I am thinking about a
career change even at my age. I would
love to hear what the future holds for
my classmates.

Lexington, MA 02420, Grace.Murphy@
gdc4s.com ¶ I had a Christmas card
from Kathi O’Looney Adams that

35th Reunion
✒ Linda Reed Tolman, 11 Georgetown

elizabethdherman.visualsociety.com.
¶ Please write and let me know what
you are up to so I can share it with
our classmates.

✒ Grace Murphy, 6 Colony Road,

1975

✒ Christina Mackiewicz McMahon, 841

Randolph Street, Abington, MA 023511039, c2themax53@gmail.com

¶ I hope you are all surviving the
winter of 2011! If you need to go
someplace warm, get in touch with
Lela Aukes-Niemer in sunny Thailand.
She can put you up in one of her lovely
apartments on the beach. ¶ Maureen
Kelly Longo is busy painting in her
studio in Middletown, Conn. Stop by
Nikita’s Bar and Bistro on Main Street
to see her murals. We are planning to
get together to visit the new wing at
the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
after her son’s wedding in the spring.
Janet Arigo Dygert has purchased
a house in Dennis on Cape Cod in
preparation for retirement — where
have the years gone?!?. She is working at Genzyme Corporation on an
Oracle applications implementation.
Janet and husband Don are planning
a trip to Yosemite and Napa Valley,
Calif. this spring to celebrate Don’s
60th birthday. ¶ Catherine Grealy
Cohen passed a rigorous certification
examination for Association CEOs and
now can use the designation — MHSA,
CAE! Congratulations, Cathy. The
class of ’75 is entering a period of children’s weddings, grandchildren, and

Landing, Bass River, MA 02664

✒ Rosamond Dunn Lockwood, 47

Greenfield Street, Manchester, NH 03104

¶ It is almost incredible to believe that
we are just around the corner from
celebrating our 35th reunion! This will
be a milestone event and a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with old
friends and see the new changes on
campus! Roz Dunn Lockwood and I
met together at her waterfront Cape
home in Wellfleet in October to make
plans for reunion. We are excited
about getting a record turnout for
our class. Everyone will receive a
20-minute DVD that Dr. Marguerite
Bouvard produced with her husband that profiled our Class of 1976,
entitled “Women for Tomorrow.” It will
conjure up hours of memories featuring seminars on the front lawn, Sarah
Caldwell’s Boston Opera Company’s
Rehearsal of the “Barber of Seville” in
the old gym, Dr. Bouvard’s trip to the
model United Nations in New York,
and featured student/faculty interviews. It is worth seeing just to recall
the long hair and 1970s fashions! ¶ I
have moved to the Cape to live year
round, but maintaining my real estate
business in Westboro, Mass., I get to
cross the canal several times a week!
My daughter is receiving her BS in
Nursing from U Mass Amherst in May.
She has been a Medical Assistant at
Acton Medical Associates for 5 years
while attending university. ¶ Maria
White McKenna is in her 20th year as
an Associate Professor of Psychology
at St. Anselm’s College. She also
serves as an advisor in the Autism
Awareness Society to educate people
on campus about autism, explaining
its devastating effects, and helping
serve individuals with autism in the
community. ¶ Martha Murphy is living
in Manhattan, N.Y. and exhibiting
her artistic work by the Museum of
Modern Art and the American Folk Art
Museum. She specializes in paintings
on the urban environment. I bought
her litho of the Chrysler building that
she brought to the last reunion! ¶ Jan
Maroney Kaseta has now been the
Director of Recreation for the Town of
Wellesley for 25 years! Her husband
of 27 years is a Lt. on the Woburn Fire
Department. Her daughter, Jaime,
graduated from U Miami, and works
in Boston for a PR firm. Her son, Kyle,
graduated from URI and is seeking
a position as a wildlife biologist. ¶

Barb Aufiero is living in Columbus,
Ohio with her husband Henry, and
son, Harrison. She is coaching a
Destination Imagination Team and is
shooting for the Global Competition. ¶
Denise Morando Gruetzmacher recently
moved from New Jersey to reside
year round in Edgartown, Martha’s
Vineyard. She is now teaching on
the island! ¶ On a sad note, this past
September our classmate and friend
Lynn Smith Pascal passed away peacefully in Chaumont, N.Y. from an inoperable brain tumor. She had worked for
more than 30 years at Pratt & Whitney
Aircraft in East Hartford, Conn. She is
survived by her husband, Richard, and
her 2 daughters Sarah and Julie. Lynn
was our only classmate with a full page
picture in the yearbook, which is now
a wonderful memorial. I recall that she
worked summers during college at a
facility where my uncle (also a lifelong
retiree from Pratt & Whitney) was
being treated for Parkinson’s. She was
highly regarded by my family during
that difficult time.

1978

✒ Janet Buckley Bernard, 113

Hubbard Street, Concord, MA 01742,
janetbernard1@gmail.com ¶ Dear

Classmates: It is with great sadness
that I report our friend and classmate
Kathy Dolan Newberry passed away
in October 2010 after a valiant battle
with cancer. Until last April Kathy
was the Director of Conferences and
Events at Northeastern University.
Kathy leaves her husband Kevin and
many devastated friends and family. Donations in her memory may
be sent to Sarcoma Research at the
Dana Farber Cancer Institute, c/o
Development Office, 10 Brookline Place
West, Brookline, MA 02445. ¶ I wish
all of you a happy and healthy 2011.
Please send me an email with any class
news to report.

who was selected as one of 55 Women
Heart champions: heart disease survivors who educate and advocate on
the issue of women and heart disease.
Deborah reminds us that heart disease
is the nation’s leading cause of death
for women. Deborah recently spent 4
days in training at the Mayo Clinic
and is now available to speak about
women’s heart health. ¶ Deborah’s
daughter Abby is pursuing a degree in
digital media while son Colin is working at Federal Express. The family

41
SPRING 11

was full of news. Her husband Bill
is in the Navy and they have been in
New Market, Md. for several years
after moving many times throughout
Bill’s career. They are a real military
family in that 3 of her 4 children are
in the service and even the 4th one,
Margaret, age 16, is in the Civil Air
Patrol. Bill, Jr. is a lieutenant in the
Navy preparing for a career as an
Intelligence Officer. Maura is a Navy
nurse, stationed in Naples, Italy and is
really enjoying being in Europe. John
graduated from West Point last May
and is engaged to one of his classmates. Margaret recently took her 1st
flight in a single-engine plane and she
also enjoys soccer, toastmasters, piano,
ballroom dancing, and choir. ¶ We were
saddened to hear of the passing of our
classmate, Debbie Pangonis Fisher, in
September, after a long struggle with
cancer. Debbie was married to George
Fisher and lived in Glastonbury, Conn.
Condolences also go to Marie Driscoll
Hanlon on the passing of her mother,
Marie White Driscoll ’44, in January.

1976

notes

42
REGIS TODAY

recently welcomed a new addition: a
playful Keeshond puppy named Kovu.
¶ Sue Chilelli Wallace continues to
teach 7th grade science, but has also
been hired by the City of Lowell to be
Lead Elementary Science Teacher for
the system, which involves running
workshops and providing extra support
for other science teachers. Sue’s son
Anthony is a senior at Keene State
College and a high-honors student
in the Safety Engineering Program.
Son Jon, also at Keene State, is a
junior majoring in Communications
and International Relations. He left
for Spain on January 7 for a semester
abroad. Son Greg is a senior in high
school and plans to attend Middlesex
Community College for Computer
Forensics next fall. ¶ Cheryl Rodgers
and her family moved to Lincoln, Mass.
in January. She and her husband
are now enjoying shorter commutes.
Cheryl has worked at Rath & Strong
for 7 years. Her husband Jim has
been a 3D Artist with Raytheon for 29
years. Daughter Nicole, 23, is working full time at Outback Steakhouse
and son Jim Jr., 21, is in his 3rd year
at the New England Institute of Art,
studying Photography. In her spare
time, Cheryl loves to knit and work
with clay. ¶ Joyce Blanchard Campbell
celebrated 3 graduations this year.
Daughter Courtney graduated from
Boston College Law, passed the bar,
and is working at a law firm in New
York City. Son Jimmy received his B.A.
from Radford University. Daughter
Christine, who was one of the valedictorians at Langley High School in
Virginia, is now attending Wellesley
College. Joyce and her husband Peter
recently moved to Overland Park,
Kans. ¶ Kathy Shepard taught Strategic
Corporate Social Responsibility for
the Regis Communications Graduate
program during the January Winter
Intersession. Kathy continues to build
her Life/Mentor Coaching business,
called LifeApps-Attract Positive
Possibilities. She provides coaching by
phone or in person. She can be reached
at 617-680-2595 or kathyshepard57@
gmail.com. ¶ It is with great sadness
that we report that classmate Barbara
Bryner McGowan passed away on
Jan. 18, 2011. Our condolences to all
Barbara’s friends and family.

news and only 1,000 words to say it so
I’m keeping this as short and sweet as
I possibly can. The past few months
have seen both loss and new birth for
our class. We send our sympathy and
prayers to Caroline Coscia, who lost

her mother in the fall, and to Jo-Ann
Bafaro, who lost her grandmother and

her father within weeks of one another.
We send congratulations to Toni Miller
Butler and Janet Murphy who have welcomed fabulous new grandchildren into
their lives. ¶ Anthea-Maria Poole’s days
are always full, living on the beautiful Greek island of Samos for about
20 years now, with her husband and
4 wonderful kids, who keep her really
busy. ¶ Jo-Ann Bafaro is still a Director
of Religious Education at Our Lady
of Lourdes in Worcester, Mass., and
working at the Girl Scouts of Central
and Western Mass as an Independent
Girl Specialist. Jo-Ann is on the Girl
Scouts 100th Anniversary planning
committee and she has also written 2
Religious Award programs that await
publication. Jo-Ann also has a new
kitten. ¶ Tricia Wlasuk Brown lives
in Fremont, N.H. and works as the
Business Office Manager for a Kindred
Nursing Home. Tricia is very proud
of her son Jonathan, age 14, who was
the 2010 recipient of the Presidential
Award for Academic Excellence and a
New England Middle School Scholar
award winner. ¶ Sandy DiMartino
teaches drama at Lexington High.
Sandy’s passion is holistic healing; she
is a reiki master and shamanic counselor. Sandy published the 1st book in
a fantasy trilogy that she is writing:
Firelink tells the story of 2 siblings,
Taryn and Julia, who are enchanters in
Scotland. Sandy found inspiration from
the book during a trip with her drama
students to perform at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival in 2004. Book #2, The
Hollow Bone, is already complete and
book #3 is in process. Sandy suggests
that if you are interested in seeing
more, the book summary and her bio
are on Amazon.com. ¶ Betty Gillis
DiBiase lives in Portland, Maine with
John, her husband of 25 years. Betty
works as an underwriter for a surplus
lines insurance broker, E.A. Kelley,
out of Providence, R.I. ¶ Janet Murphy
has lived in Connecticut since 1985
and currently works at Yale University
and Yale-New Haven Hospital as a
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. ¶ Carol
MacGillivray Masters reports that she
has been working in financial planning for 8+ years. The convenience of
living and working in the same town,
Westborough, Mass., with the flexibility of being available to her kids
outweighs the challenges of being the
only non-family worker in a family run
business. Carol sees Karen Callahan
Masters at family get-togethers and
holidays. Karen works as the “Queen
Dean”, as Carol fondly calls her, at
Laboure College. Carol exchanges
intermittent emails with Patrice
Lombardi, who by all accounts is still
enjoying living, painting, and teaching
in Italy. Janice Franklin Lomp has been
working at Dean College as the “ears”

for 2 deaf students. She attends their
classes and frantically bangs out on her
laptop what the professor says during
the lecture, with the idea that the students can read lips and pay attention
during class-time, and then later refer
to her notes for follow up. Janice has
loved this job — some classes are very
interesting and the best part about it is
that she doesn’t have to take any of the
exams! Janice loves working the school
calendar so that she has the same time
off as her kids, and she also loves the
idea of being able to spend the summer
at her Cape house. ¶ Ellen Sheehy is
not sure when she checked in last.
It has been a while, Ellen! Ellen and
her partner Cindy bought a condo in
Shelton, Conn. almost 3 years ago and
they love it. Ellen worked in retail for
Toys R Us and Bradlees for 20 years.
She then worked in NYC for 5 years
at a children’s garment company and
then joined Cindy back in Conneticut,
working for Melissa & Doug, a toy
company, where she has been for
about 5 years. Ellen and Cindy love to
travel — they are going on a cruise in
March and to visit family in Florida in
April. Ellen’s family got together last
July to celebrate her aunt S. Helen
Fenton’s birthday and plan to meet the
same time this year. Ellen reports that
S. Helen Fenton is well and living at
Bethany in Framingham. Last June,
Ellen got together with Lisa Selleck
for dinner while on the Cape. Lisa still
lives in Plymouth and is doing well. ¶
Nina Bertelli is happy and thankful to
be working and she’s also busy with
family as her son Nick is waiting acceptance to several high schools. Nina will
be hosting several Regis friends for
waffles and mimosas in March so look
forward to reports on that event in the
next Regis Today. ¶ Caroline Coscia is
recovering nicely from some recent surgery. Caroline is so very excited about
the upcoming Red Sox season that she
sent friends emails about Truck Day,
which resulted in some rather humorous imaginings from Marie O’Malley.
Claire Ventura King has a great new job
up on the North Shore. Michelle Velilla
Aloma can ice skate on her driveway,
hates diets, and likes llamas. Michelle,
I warned you! MaryBeth Untersee
Klotz has also had enough of snow
and ice but wishes everyone a great
and healthy 2011. ¶ Maria Walden
Fitzgerald attended the Holly Tea with
her daughters and has moved back
to Ashland, Mass. ¶ Toni Miller Butler
works as a Special Education Assistant
in the Londonderry School District and
is thrilled to welcome her 2nd grandchild. ¶ Barbara Hughes Barrow, Esq.
attended the Regis Women in the Law
Event at Morrison House this past fall
and is happily living and practicing law
in Rhode Island. ¶ I now handle Labor
Relations cases with the Massachusetts
Department of Correction and am very

class
busy with elder care issues for my
extended family.

1981 30th Reunion Class

a great success again this year. After
working for Senator Kennedy and
acting as the Executive Assistant of
the Massachusetts Democratic Party,
Maria became a Spanish, German, and
Portuguese teacher and has taught
at Peabody Veterans Memorial High
School since 1990. In 1998, she became
the Foreign Language Department
Chair at the same high school. Carol
lives in Waltham, Mass. with her
husband Joe and is employed as a data
and clinical manager at Massachusetts
Eye & Ear Infirmary where she has
worked for the past 24 years. Meg
resides in Dracut, Mass. and has her
own business. Hope and her husband
Andy live in Trumbull, Conn. and are
the parents of 23-year-old Andrew who
recently graduated from the University
of Hartford and 20-year-old Kate who
is a junior at Emerson College. Hope
is employed as a long-term substitute
teacher in the English Department
at Trumbull High School. Maureen
resides in Cambridge and has worked
for nonprofits and educational institutions. She is currently employed by
Harvard Law School. ¶ As for me,
well my big news is that my niece
Ashley was accepted to Regis on early
acceptance and will be a member of the
Regis College Class of 2015, majoring in Health Sciences! I could not be
prouder! ¶ I hope to see everyone at
the Reunion on May 20–22, but until
then take care in the snow and ice for
those of you who are local!

1984

✒ Nancy Maloney Donahue,
nbbedonahue@yahoo.com ¶ Hello
Class of ’84. What a winter! I sure
hope that the record snow fall this
season that has been a boon to winter
sports enthusiasts and a bust to town
snow removal budgets is long gone
and all but a distant memory by the
time this Regis Today reaches your
mailbox. What a welcome spring is in
for! ¶ Such a winter is no big deal for
Minnesotan Liz Hughes VanderAarde
who admits to chuckling at our East
Coast whining over all the snow and
ice we’ve had to endure. It’s all just par
for the course in her neck of the woods.
“Massachusetts hears it’s going to snow
and they cancel school before they see
a flurry. In Minnesota, the windchill is
20–40 below zero and we have school!”
Other than feeling a little chilly, Liz
reports that life is crazy busy with
sports and the family business, but
everyone is happy and healthy. Her
son Jack is a sophmore finance major
at Fordham University in New York.
Sam, age 16, is a high school sophmore
and is now driving, and her youngest,
Max, is in fifth grade and runs the
family. Liz is no longer the only female
in the household. The VanderAardes
got their 1st dog, Rosie, and everyone

43
SPRING 11

✒ Teresa McGonigle, Tmm387@comcast.
net ¶ Thank you to all who responded
with updates. It is always wonderful to get the news, especially with
our Reunion coming so soon. Hard to
believe it is 30 years, so let us start
with some news about the upcoming event! Plans are under way for
our Reunion with a lively group of
volunteers who have joined our Class
Co-Presidents and Reunion Chairs
Joanne Lynch Schamburg and Tricia
Russo Connors, as well as Reunion
Chair Joan Desmond Sullivan for
several on-campus meetings. With
save-the-date postcards for May 20, 21
and 22, and personal phone calls, they
hope to extend a warm welcome back
to all classmates for a Friday evening
Reception/Wine Tasting and Dinner
to be followed by a Pub Night. A full
slate of activities on Saturday includes
breakfast, a guest speaker, the Parade
of Classes, the Alumni Luncheon,
campus tours, Liturgy, receptions, and
a dinner under the tent at the Tower
Gardens with a live band. Finally,
we end our weekend of reminiscence
with a farewell Sunday brunch. Our
class will be incomplete without you so
please look for your invitation, reserve
a dorm room, pack your bags and get
reacquainted with your classmates,
former faculty, and our beloved Regis.
For more information you may contact
Alumni Relations at 781-768-7245 or
visit registowertalk.net/reunion2011.
It should be quite the event! ¶ Now
for more news. For Charlotte O’Malley
Kelly the tuition bills are over as her
son Brendan graduated from Trinity
College last May and her daughter
Colleen is graduating from Babson
College this May — Well done to all!
In addition she sees Joanne, Susan,
and Ann all of the time and Donna less
often but they keep in touch, having
had their annual Christmas gathering at Charlotte’s house. Susan’s and
Ann’s (girls) are in their freshman year
of college at Providence and Bucknell
respectively. ¶ Another legacy student
at Regis is Donna Ribaudo Schow’s
daughter Sarah currently attending
Regis in the class of 2014. She was a
direct accept applicant to the Nursing
program, and runs both indoor and
outdoor track. ¶ Meg Mulherin Fahey
provided an update from Omaha,
Nebr. where she and Steve have been
living for the past 5 ½ years. Meg is
teaching 5th grade at St. Columbkille
School and earned her master’s
degree in Elementary Education in
December. Steve recently retired from
the Navy after 20 years of service. He
is currently working for Booz Allen
Hamilton as a Space Operations

consultant and working on his doctoral
thesis in Computer Engineering.
Their oldest son Stephen was married in May at Virginia Tech, where
both he and his wife Debbie attended
college. In November, he earned his
“Wings of Gold” and became a Naval
aviator. He and his wife are living in
Jacksonville, Fla. while he attends
the Fleet Replacement Squadron
learning to fly the SH60B helicopter.
Once he completes school, he and
Debbie will be moving to Hawaii.
Brendan, their youngest son, is a
freshman engineering student at the
University of Michigan. He received a
Navy ROTC scholarship to Michigan.
¶ Elaine Cournoyer Gabovitch has
been very busy having completed her
master’s in Public Administration at
Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of
Business in 2008 (transferred credit
for a great Regis graduate course in
Organizational Effectiveness toward
her degree — never too late to benefit from a Regis education!), following which she was appointed to the
faculty of UMass Medical School in
the Family Medicine & Community
Health Department. She now teaches
in the Leadership Education in
Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
(LEND) program. She also served as
a co-investigator on research studies
there related to health promotion and
behavioral intervention for children
and youth with autism spectrum
disorders and in 2009, authored an
article in a special issue on Families
and Disabilities for the Marriage
and Family Review Journal entitled
“Family-Centered Care for Children
with Autism Spectrum Disorders:
A Review.” Since August 2010, she
has served as the Director of Family
& Community Partnerships at the
Shriver Center; is the state team
leader for the Massachusetts CDC “Act
Early” State Autism campaign; and
is a member of Mayor Tom Menino’s
Autism Task Force and Governor
Deval Patrick’s Autism Commission.
Throughout it all, she notes she is
actively using her Regis education in
each of these pursuits. On a personal
note, her son Evan is now a freshman in high school, doing really well,
and making the family very proud.
¶ Great news also comes from Maria
Branquinho, whose wedding to Manny
Cunha on Friday, September 3, 2010
in Peabody, Mass. was the occasion
for a mini-Regis reunion of members of the Class of 1981 including
Carol Weigel DiFranco, Meg Simpson
MacDonald, Hope Miceli Spalla, and
Maureen Stephens. Also from Regis
were 2 women Maria works with from
Peabody, as well as Maria’s sister
Fatima Branquinho ’88, another Regis
alum! Maureen provided us with the
details and pictures. She and Carol
also attended the Holly Tea which was

notes

44
REGIS TODAY

loves her. Watch out Max, Rosie will
be running the show soon enough. ¶
My hat is off to Patricia McAuley who is
keeping busy as she nears completion
of her 1st year of graduate school at
Boston College School of Social Work.
Patricia’s concentration is older adults
and families and she hopes to work
in hospice care. “I love school and I
love my field placement with Jewish
Family & Children’s Services in the
Geriatric Care Department.” She plans
on graduating in 2012. Patricia’s son
turned 18 in November and has been
busy applying to colleges. ¶ Deb Scott
continues to receive accolades on her
1st book The Sky is Green and The
Grass is Blue: Turning your upside
down world right side up! Deb is
happy to share that her book won its
2nd national book award recently for
Best New Non-Fiction 2010 finalist
in the USA Book Awards. Earlier in
2010, her book won a medal as Best
Motivational Book finalist in the Next
Generation Indie Book Awards. Well
done, Deb. This is on my book club’s
list. ¶ It was great to hear from my
old teammate Christine O’Connell
Smerczynski. Chris has been practicing law for almost 24 years and still
loves every minute of it. She specializes in Elder Law, a field she finds
very rewarding. Chris and husband
Mike have 3 children. Their oldest,
Patrick, graduated from St. John’s
Prep last year and was treated to a
mother-son trip to Ireland for a week
of hiking and touring. (If my memory
serves me right, Patrick’s mom spent
at least a semester in Ireland while
at Regis). “As I tearfully dropped him
off this past fall at the University of
Vermont, I was grateful that he and I
were able to have that time together in
Ireland. It’s never more apparent than
at a college drop off just how quickly
their childhood goes!” Their 2nd son,
Sean, is a freshman at St. John’s Prep
and loves football, but isn’t as thrilled
with the single sex environment. “I
keep telling him that it will bring out
the best in him. At 15 years old he’s
not buying it.” Daughter Casey is the
youngest and at 13-years-old stands
5’10” tall. She uses her height to good
advantage and plays on Topsfield’s
travel basketball team, a program
directed by Chris’s college roommate
Carmel Connaughton Kitsakos. Chris’s
husband Mike, who is still coming
to terms with the fact that he’s not
needed to coach the boys’ football or
baseball teams now that they’re up
in the bigger leagues, is giving girls’
basketball a try, pitching in wherever
he can and trying to keep up with
those teenage girls. Five years ago,
Chris became a member of the board
of Annette’s Climb, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit organization for the prevention
of domestic abuse. The group has
1 fundraiser a year in May where

they lead 100 to 120 hikers up New
Hampshire’s Tuckerman’s Ravine. “I’ve
been able to rope in many friends and
family members to attend the annual
event and 2 years ago was joined by
my other Regis roommate Jean Sirois
Guyer. Chris reports that Jean and
her husband Wayne just celebrated
their 25th wedding anniversary with
a trip to Tuscany, Italy. The couple
was joined by Jean’s parents, Dr. and
Mrs. Edward Sirois who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. ¶
Lisa Clivio-Wentrup continues to live
and work in the Newport, N.H. area.
This middle school guidance counselor
was expecting to earn her brown belt
in karate at the time of this writing.
I’m sure she did it. After the Patriots’
big loss (I don’t mean to revisit that,
but Lisa was really bummed out), Lisa
picked the Steelers and Green Bay for
the Superbowl and she was right. No
word on who she picked to actually win
the big game but if she won any big
money, I’m sure I would have heard by
now. She came in 8th out of 20 teams
in fantasy football, hosted good friends
from California in January, and is still
awaiting a visit from me to her neighborhood in the Granite State. ¶ One
family member I won’t bring with me
on my visit to see Lisa is our newest
addition. Just like the VanderAardes,
the Donahues did something they’d
never done before. In fact, I never in
a million years thought I would get
a dog. But last June, we rescued a
4-year-old Shnauzer-mix male and
named him Tito. He is so cute. I am
now officially a dog lover. It’s only
taken me 48 years to get here. Lisa is
not one. Tito will stay home when I go
visit her. ¶ That’s all the news that’s
fit to print for now. I would love to
hear from you, and so would the rest of
your classmates. Drop me an email or
friend me on Facebook. And as I clean
up my email list, I need to know your
new one. Enjoy 2011!

1989

✒ Maria Alpers Henehan, paulhenehan@
verizon.net ¶ Happy 2011! I hope you
all enjoyed the holidays with family
and friends. Casey and I attended the
Holly Tea as we do each December.
It has become one of our favorite
traditions. This year we made plans
to catch up with Jen Oteri and her
3 daughters, Catherine, Anna, and
Mary Grace. It was fun to spend the
afternoon together. I also saw Mary
O’Connor D’Amico who was with her
mother and her daughter Caitlin.
I had some time to catch up with
Kristine Gomes who attended with
her daughter Chloe. Suzanne Casey
attended with her nieces, and Lisa
Perry Calderan and her daughter
enjoyed the tea as well. Lisa is taking
classes at North Shore College to get

a Paralegal Certificate. After being
laid off from Lynn Public Schools in
June 2009, she has been subbing and
is going on 12 years as a part-time
medical receptionist. Lisa expects to
complete her studies in the spring of
2012. “Being a history major at Regis
as well as a decent writer/researcher,
I think it might be a good match for
me. Going to plug away and get there!
My kids think it is funny when I sit
and do homework with them! And
as many of us are, I am a full-time
mom to 2 of the greatest kids ever!”
¶ Kathleen Fleming lives just outside
NYC and works for Rewards Network,
a restaurant marketing company. The
best part of her job? Running around
the city to check out new restaurants.
How can I get a gig like that? ¶ Shauna
Burke lives in Quincy, Mass. and has
been in the staffing industry for 20
years, presently with Adecco as a
Client Service Manager in Canton,
Mass. Shauna “misses Mary McSoley’s
special AM drinks that she delivered
in our lovely Chaucer class.” Ahhhh,
those were the days! ¶ Patti Adams
Feck reports that her “baby” boy is now
a 2nd grader and her stepdaughter
is a senior in high school. She is in
her 21st year with Tenneco, Inc. and
sells Mary Kay on the side. She says,
“I’m sure there are a few that will
get a kick out of that since I was the
last one to ever wear much makeup
in college.” ¶ Carla Zarse reports that
she has been doing fundraising work
for Re-Run Thoroughbred Rescue and
Forever Morgans. She actually has a
little 6-year-old Morgan Gelding in
her backyard who was minutes from
the slaughter truck. In addition to
her volunteer work, she is focusing
on her health and trying to make it
through her lyme treatments. Best
wishes for improved health. ¶ Julie
Aubrey Kane works part time for her
father’s business which gives her time
to keep up with her children’s activities. Her daughter Aubrianne had a
solo in a Christmas show. (I saw a
video clip…she has an amazing voice.)
¶ Elizabeth Cannon Dimovski LOVES
being a stay-at-home mom to Ana and
Michael. They enjoyed spending the
holidays with family in Rhode Island...
especially playing in all the snow! ¶
Kristin Dolder Wenger reports, “Our
life is sailing along smoothly. It is filled
with lots of basketball, since all 3 boys
are playing this winter. They are aged
11, 8, and 6. I am still staying at home
and have fun volunteering at school
and with local community groups. It is
a good life...” Love to hear good news! ¶
Karol Maybury just finished a study on
“The Effect of Victim Characteristics
on Observers’ Evaluations of Bullying
Situations” which she will present at
the Eastern Psychological Association
conference in March. She also did a
longitudinal study on the impact of a

class

notes

positive psychology course on students’
years as a bioanalytical chemist. One
well-being which she will present at
of the first drugs she worked on there,
the same conference. ¶ Kathy Nawn
✒ Robin Daley Doyle, Rddoyle@
Halaven, has been approved by the
FDA for the treatment of metastatic
Conrad reports that her two nieces
captivate.com ¶ We have joyful news to
graduated from Regis in May…with
report: 3 baby girls were added to the
breast cancer. Pretty exciting for us all,
her sister in the class of ‘84, they
Regis family! Shawna Curran and Scott
I’d say. ¶ On a lighter note, Krista and
truly are a Regis family! Diane Tynan
Frazer welcomed twin girls on Oct. 12,
her old roomie Katie Sheehan O’Brien
works for the Town of Canton as the
2010. Claire Anna and Jane Ellen join
went to the Holly Tea this year with
Director of the Council on Aging.
big brother Matthew, almost 12. The
their daughters and Krista’s mother.
She has 2 children: Christine, age
Frazer household is a busy one indeed!
They had a great time and only wished
14, and Joseph, age 9. “In between
Nancy McSweeney and Robbie Pastore
that more of our classmates would
work, kids, and keeping up a house,
welcomed Sarah Elizabeth on Dec. 7,
go. They are both looking forward to
I enjoy spending time with family
2010. John Paul, 2, is so excited for
the reunion and hope that we have a
and friends. I also enjoy working off
his new sister! Both families are doing
great turnout. Ditto… ¶ Julie Downs
stress at the Y.” ¶ JoEllen McGinnity
well. ¶ Kerry Ann Munroe Madden
Conover has taken on a new role at
reports that “Mary O’Connor D’Amico
wrote about her mid-life crisis and
Cengage Learning, as Director of
and her family came to see us at the
embracing it with a little red sports car
Faculty and Sales Marketing Strategy,
Cape this summer (Dennisport), and
and a 2nd career! Kerry has been with
Consumer Markets. She works with
I got to reunite with Liz Marchese at
Pampered Chef for years and now is a
educational institutions providing
our 25th High School reunion. She is
certified personal trainer and a contribsolutions for learning and research
amazing — working full time, pretty
uting columnist for health and fitness
needs via a consumer markets type-hat
much coordinating all of Saugus Pop
at www.catholicmom.com. Check out
through marketing of online portals.
Warner, and living
If you have children in
in Saugus with her
college who are looking
husband and two sons.
for lower-cost materials,
I’m finishing my 15th
look Julie up or visit
year in Reading Public
www.cengagebrain.
Schools. I also presented
com. ¶ Julie also
at the Blue Ribbon
recently hosted a holiRegis College would love to know what’s new with
Education conference in
day fundraising event,
you.
Regis
Today
is
a
great
way
to
stay
in
touch
Orlando in December.”
the “Golden Cookie
with your classmates and friends. Share your news
Congratulations!! ¶ Gail
Awards,” in December,
about babies, jobs, marriages, vacations, activities,
with all proceeds
Parkins Grant moved to
anniversaries, and grandkids.
Canada in 2008 with
benefiting the Jeanne
her husband Patrick,
Geiger Crisis Center.
If you would like to submit a class note, go to the
had her daughter Sarah
This informal event
Regis College website, www.regiscollege.edu, and
in 2009, and started
raised over $1,000 for
click on the Alumni page. Just fill out the form and
working for the governwomen and children
submit your news to the Alumni Office for the next
ment of Ontario in 2010.
of domestic violence.
issue of Regis Today. Thanks so much for your news!
She’s happy to report
Fellow Regis College
that in a tough economy,
alumna Lisa Beaton
We look forward to hearing from you.
her French gave her the
was in attendance, and
edge that she needed
has been a past winner
to land a permanent
in the category of “”Best
position. She is grateOverall.” www.newbury
ful that French was an option for a
her new endeavor at www.fitnessyour
portnews.com/lifestyle/x1112343368/
major back in the ‘80s. Apart from the
weigh.com and read her blog at www.
SWEET-AFFAIR ¶ Julie and Stephanie
winters, life in Canada goes well. Gail
kerrymadden.blogspot.com. ¶ I heard
Duffy Seeley finally connected in West
makes annual trips back to Jamaica
from Ellen Osgood George who lives in
Newbury, Mass., where they both
to see her family and posts pictures of
Bridgewater, Mass. with her husband
live. The two met up after many years
the tropical paradise to make all of her
and 2 girls. Ellen works at Bridgewater
through their kindergarteners at an
friends jealous…ha, ha! ¶ Rita Ryan
State University. ¶ Happy spring! And
elementary school BBQ event that took
send me your messages via email or
place this past September. Stephanie
Greenberg is slowly recuperating from
emergency surgery to repair a broken
find me on Facebook.
has 2 kindergarteners and Julie has
ankle. She spent the holidays with
3 girls in grades pre-school, kinderfamily, friends, and her crutches. Her
garten, and third grade. I write this
daughter Corie is doing AWESOME in
20th Reunion Class
as I sit on my couch recovering from
her 1st year at Florida State; she has a
✒ Rosemary Hughes, rosemary
arthroscopic knee surgery, which I had
3.97 GPA! Rita and her husband Steve
done in January. I’m looking forward
hughes@aol.com ¶ Hello Class, I hope
both still work for the fire services.
you are counting down to the reunion
to doing absolutely anything that will
Steve is a Lieutenant with a departthis spring! ¶ As you know, plans are
allow me to move, as I am terrible at
ment in Lee County, and Rita is still
underway for our reunion. Pattyanne
sitting still! I guess I will not be racing
the Chief for a department in Collier
with Tara Philbin on our ski league this
Lyons and the reunion committee are
County. Rita says, “It certainly makes
doing a fabulous job of keeping us all
season. ¶ Tara is very busy planning
for an interesting life! We enjoy huntupdated on our own Facebook page:
her 2011 wedding to Michael Corcoran.
ing, fishing, swamp buggy riding and
Regis College Class of 1991. It’s worth
The couple plans to marry on June 4,
4-wheeling with friends and family—
checking out! It was my excuse for
with a reception at the Wequassett
when we are not working!” Hopefully
opening a FB account, which I was
Resort in Chatham, Mass. It was a
you will be fully healed and back to
totally avoiding, and it’s really a nice
natural choice for Tara, who spent
having fun by the time you read this.
way for our class to connect openly.
most of her summers on the Cape in
¶ Krista Barnes Condon’s news gives
Wellfleet. Tara also hosted a few alums
cause for hope and celebration. She’s
at her family Cape Cod home this
been working at Eisai for the past 13
past summer, where Jean Lorizio ’93,

1990

Submit Class Notes Online!

SPRING 11

1991

45

Paula Ventura ’92, and I lounged our
way through a weekend of pool, hot
tub, beaches, and boats. Not a terrible
thing…. ¶ I have lost more and more
email addresses for you all, as people
get new online accounts or change jobs.
Feel free to drop me a line with your
new email address, so we can keep you
connected. I look forward to hearing
from you. Be well.

ing you well. We in Massachusetts
are experiencing one of the worst
winters ever, much worse than any
we endured during our years at
Regis! Remember the early morning
announcements in the dorms, telling
us to move our cars so the lots could be
plowed? Those were the days! ¶ Before
the snowstorms began in November,
I attended the wedding of Sharon
Mulcahy to Brandon Loomis. Held at
L’Andana in Burlington, Mass., it was
a wonderful evening. Would we expect
any less from Sharon? Other Regis
grads in attendance were Michelle
Barczykowski, Cindy Joyce, Gabrielle
Wylie Menezes, Kristen Laverty ’90
and Patricia Rosati Mulcahy ’85.
Sharon and Brad honeymooned in St.
Lucia, and are now the proud parents of Winston, their new Burmese
mountain dog! ¶ Michelle Barczykowski
and her family welcomed a second
son, Liam, in September. He is as cute
as cute can get! Michelle returned to
the Regis campus in January to teach
photography. ¶ Meg McDevitt Elmiger
is still living in Switzerland after
almost 16 years. Two years ago she
qualified to teach English to adults
and has been doing so ever since. Meg
writes, “I just love it!” She also plans
to become qualified to teach children.
Meg’s twins, Anna and Roman, are
7 ½ years old and are enjoying 2nd
grade. ¶ Lise Lague Riet and her
family have adjusted nicely to life in
Missouri, where they moved in the fall.
She is the new marketing director at
the Chesterfield Montessori School.
Lise’s daughters attend the school,
and she reports, “It has been great
fun to have a career-type job again,
and I love the school.” ¶ Diane Lawton
Robillard writes, “I think I have
become a complete soccer mom now...
lol. I was elected to Cumberland Youth
Soccer board.” Diane is the director of
sponsors, and her job is a big one. The
group has more than 1,000 kids in the
fall for recreation and then 300 during the winter for competitive sports,
which means there are lots of sponsors
to solicit. Diane has been accepted
to Regis’s Health Administration
program; she’ll start in the fall. ¶ Julie
McLaughlin is our resident Stella &

Dot jewelry representative, and, she
reports, “I absolutely love my job!!!”
She invites everyone to check out
her website at www.stelladot.com/
jmclaughlin. When we emailed in
February, Julie was headed to Vail,
Colorado, for her annual ski break.
This summer, she’ll head to Kiawah
Island with her family. Julie writes,
“I love being a busy aunt with all my
nieces and nephews that live here in
Charlotte, North Carolina, too...they
are so involved in sports so I go cheer!”
You can find Julie on Facebook — and
if you are visiting Charlotte, be sure to
look her up! That is it for now! Be sure
to friend me on Facebook. It is a great
way to connect.

1994

✒ Karen Corkum McCue, Kckork@aol.
com ✒ Heather Williams, williams87@
gmail.com ¶ Alexis Walkenstein was
named Vice President of Media and
Communications at The Maximus
Group. She is an Emmy Awardwinning journalist who most
recently served as the Director of
Communications for the Catholic
Diocese of Palm Beach since 2005.
Alexis will directly manage communications activities that promote,
enhance and further develop Maximus’
brand reputation. She will also be
responsible for the development,
integration and implementation of a
broad range of public relations activities relating directly to the company’s
strategic direction and positioning.

1996 15th Reunion Class

✒ Tara Esfahanian, tara@esfahanian.
com ¶ Hi ladies, I have lots of baby
news to report! ¶ Janice LaCascia
Mahoney welcomed a baby girl, Sophia
Josephine, on August 30th. Janice is
enjoying motherhood and is working as a Senior Account Executive
for Monster. This is her first child. ¶
Kerry Parker Belski and her husband
Steve are expecting their third child in
March. The baby will be welcomed by
big brother Ryan and sister Caroline.
¶ Lisa Morrissey welcomed a baby boy,
Avery DaJing Wu in June. This is
the first boy for Lisa. Sister, Jennifer
Morrissey Irizarry, also had a baby
girl 2 weeks after Lisa, named Aurora
Eva. ¶ Carly Kimball Smith sent me a
few updates including news on Jody
Michalski. Jody is taking on a new
and honorable adventure. On June
22, 2011, she will be participating in
the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk for
the cure. She is doing it on behalf of
her stepmom, Karen Michalski who
is a breast cancer survivor. We would
like to wish Jody the best of luck
on her new adventure as I am sure
many of us know people who have
been affected with this disease. ¶

rented a house in the outer banks and
enjoyed a Wild Horse Tour in Corolla,
N.C. ¶ I received a nice note from
Jennifer Abbondanzio who resides in
Thompson, Conn. and works as a Sr.
Administrative Assistant at Fallon
Clinic, located at St. Vincent Hospital
in Worcester, Mass. She enjoys her
2 dachshunds, aka her “kids”, Barney
and Cooper, and is still singing professionally. She would like to find a
local GB/Wedding band to join. If
anyone would like to contact her
regarding this, please do so at jennifer
abbondanzio@yahoo.com. Jennifer is
really looking forward to the reunion in
May of 2011 and hopes that everyone
from the class of 1996 is doing well! ¶
Thank you everyone for the updates!
Keep them coming and look forward to
seeing many of you on Saturday, May
21 at our 15 year reunion.

1999

✒ Alexa Pozniak, apoz@aol.com ✒
Kelly Moran, morank5@yahoo.com ¶
Some exciting marriages to report for
the Class of 1999. Danielle Eber and
Gemini Thielman on Apr. 30, 2011;
Meghan Lee and Dennis Parker on
May 22, 2011; Stephanie Schmidt and
Joel on Oct. 15, 2011. Upcoming marriages for Sharon Davis in March of
2011, Janine Lapan in August of 2011,
Mel Escobar to Lou Tammaro on Feb.
5, 2011, and Faye Fiondella and Steve
Trickle are looking to set a date! ¶
On the work front, Christa Gillis is
the current Athletic Director at Our
Lady of Nazareth Academy and Kelly
Moran was appointed Director of
Counseling at Mount Ida College. ¶
Send in your news so that we can
keep everyone informed!

2001

10th Reunion
✒ Jessica Grondin Shumaker, Jshu20@
yahoo.com ¶ So we’ve got baby news
this time! And it looks like we might
have some future Regis ladies on our
hands! My husband and I are now the
proud parents of Charlotte Lily who
joined us on Nov. 28. We’re certainly
in love and enjoying every moment.
Courtney McAulay Patterson is also
a proud new mama to a baby girl,
Rylie Jane, who was born on Jan. 7.
¶ In other news, I’m glad we finally
got Maura “Charlie” Gallagher Jones
to submit class notes. She’s happy to
report that she’s teaching 1st grade in
her hometown of Hull, Mass., where
she lives with her husband Matt and
their 4-year-old son Michael. ¶ Erika
Swanson Walther checked in to let us
know that she was recently accepted
into the Educator Leadership Institute.
She began the program in January

class

2002

✒ Courtney O’Keefe, ckokeefe@gmail.
com ¶ Erika Shupe is in her 8th year of
teaching; after spending 6 years teaching middle school Latin in Connecticut,
she moved into the virtual classroom.
Erika now teaches Latin for both the
Virtual Learning Academy Charter
School (VLACS) based in Exeter, N.H.
and also at Bozeman High School
in Bozeman, Mont. She visits Old
Orchard Beach, Maine often and helps
out at her family’s business: “Board
Silly Puzzles & Games.” Erika loves
living, skiing, and hiking in Montana.
¶ Colleen O’Connell was back under
the tent at Regis last May when
she graduated from the Lawrence
Memorial/Regis College Nursing
Program with an associate’s degree,
and has been working as an RN at the
New England Rehabilitation Hospital

in Woburn, Mass. Jesse Hoffman
Bouranis has switched gears and is
now working as a career counselor at
Newport Middle/High School. ¶ Future
Regis grads are being born every day!
Hillary Burgdorf Carpinella and husband Paul adopted Isaac Leroy on Aug.
12, 2010, and were there to meet this
new bundle of joy when he was born on
May 11, 2010. Dancing Queen Danielle
Bazinet and husband Dennis welcomed
their 1st son, Bradyn Lucas, on May
29, 2010. Mamiko Ono Schonbeck
proudly announced the birth of her
daughter Miyako Dorothy on July
11, 2010. Another RCDC founder
Natasha Benway and her husband are
also proud to announce the adoption
of their baby girl, Bethany Elizabeth
Marie Blutt, born on Nov. 2, 2010. Inori
Mitsufuji Kim gave birth to a boy, Jinu,
on Oct. 29, 2010 in sunny Hawaii.
Just one day later, on Oct. 30, Lisa
Lemoine Mavilia danced her way to the
hospital, and gave birth to baby boy
Dean Michael. Not to be outdone by
her Regis classmates, Kathleen Cronin
Harrison introduced the world to her
new bundle of joy, Savannah Margaret,
with husband John Timothy on Nov.
23! Congratulations to all the new
moms and dads! ¶ Becky Hamm Heins
and husband Randy are excited to have
purchased their first home in North
Andover, Mass.; and, it looks like
North Andover is the place to be since
Briana Madden also purchased a home
there this past year. Andrea DePaoli
and boyfriend Brian McDonough are
also 1st time homeowners just a few
towns over in Woburn, Mass. Lindsay
Alaimo-Fuentes is now hyphenating
her last name after marrying fiance
Alexandra Fuentes on January 16,
2011 — Congratulations Linz! We’re
excited to welcome another member to
our Regis Family! ¶ Ewa Cybulski Wlaz
shared that her daughter Amelia just
turned 1-years-old this past December
and her older daughter Julia will be
3 in March. Time really flies! She and
her husband Krys are both finishing
their MBA programs at the University
of Hartford in just a couple semesters.
She sends her best to everyone! ¶
www.facebook.com/georgette.oosting
Georgette Swain Oosting received
her IBCLC certification in July 2010.
That is, she is now both a registered
nurse and an International Board
Certified Lactation Consultant. She’s
still working at New York Presbyterian
Hospital-Weill Cornell Med Center as
a postpartum nurse and is picking up
hours there as a Lactation Consultant.
¶ Kara Sprague is currently in her
3rd semester at University of
Southern Maine for Master’s in
School Counseling. ¶ I hope all the
rest of you, 2002ers, are doing great
and enjoying the snow! Be sure to
send your updates along for the next
edition of Regis Today.

2003

✒ Kara Bilotta, kbilotta@gmail.com ¶
The members of the class of 2003 continue to be a bit elusive and shy about
sharing their updates with the Regis
world. I know there are more of us out
in the world doing great things. Please
take a moment to let us know what is
going on in your life; email updates to
regis2003@gmail.com. The big change
in my life is a promotion at work; I am
now a Client Relationship Manager
within University Information
Technology (UIT) at Tufts University.
I have found the development to be
exciting and scary all at the same
time! If anyone has experience in this
area, I would love to hear from you. ¶
Stephanie Stenmon Rodriguez reports
that after living in New York City for
over 6 years, meeting her husband
Daniel Rodriguez, and having their
1st child (Jackson, now 2 1/2) they find
themselves residing in Maple Grove,
Minn. After being in Minnesota a
little over a year Stephanie is proud
to report that they are 1st time home
owners! ¶ Andrea Restor graduated with her Master’s in Business
Administration from the University of
Phoenix in Nov. 2010. She was lucky
enough to even attend the graduation
out in Phoenix, Arizona! She currently
just embarked upon her 6th year at
SEA CORP, a contractor for the Navy,
and continues to enjoy working on the
Navy base. It is her goal that with this
new degree under her belt that she
will journey into a new career path or
move up within her current company.
¶ Erica Glennon is overjoyed to report
that her boyfriend Chris Farrand
proposed in October after 4 years of
dating. She of course accepted and
they are to be married on Apr. 16th,
2011. After 4 years they decided to not
waste any time and have managed
to plan a wedding in record time! ¶
Michaela Ellis Selent sent a note to let
us know that she and her husband just
celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary in January. Their son Michael is
in kindergarten doing very well and is
following in his mom’s footsteps and
has successfully completed his 1st
season of soccer. Michaela thoroughly
enjoyed coaching his soccer team.
Their daughter Alexandria is 4 and tall
just like her mommy, even bigger than
her big brother and she is enjoying
her 1st year of dance classes. ¶ Kristin
Smith has been living in New Jersey
for the past 4 ½ years and recently
got engaged to her boyfriend of 6 ½
years back in May of 2010. They do not
have any wedding plans yet but are
definitely enjoying this time. Kristin
started a new job the beginning of
Jan. 2011 in the Media Department of
Premium Outlets, a division of Simon
Property Group. ¶ Carole Meehan
finished her master’s in Jan. 2010,

47
SPRING 11

and will complete it in June 2012.
The program will allow her to receive
her 2nd Master of Education (this one
in Organizational Management) and
her licensure for Principal/Assistant
Principal PreK-6. Erika is very excited
about this opportunity! On top of all
that, she’s still teaching 3rd grade in
Waltham, Mass., as well as participating on the Alumni Board of Directors.
¶ Martha Douty Perez reported that
she’s hoping to visit Guatemala with
her husband, Julio, for the 1st time
in March/April. She is currently the
Director of Social Services at the
Golden Living Center-Heathwood in
Chestnut Hill and she’s working on
another level of social work licensure.
She and her husband just moved in
December to another apartment in
Framingham, Mass. Additionally,
Martha tells us that she’s working to
help keep her sister’s school open, The
Glavin Center in Shrewsbury, Mass.
and she’s trying to help her mom find
a kidney donor. ¶ Thais Teixeira Frost
and her family are enjoying their new
home in West Boylston, Mass. She says
that she’s glad that their living space
has doubled, but unfortunately, so has
the cleaning! ¶ Lisa Owen received a
Master’s in Education from Southern
Utah University in 2010 and a mathematics endorsement from the state of
Utah. ¶ Margo Bednarz Cicciarella and
her husband Frank welcomed their
2nd child, Brooke Ann, on Dec. 6, 2010.
¶ That’s all the news for this round.
Please continue to send updates my
way. Remember, it’s easy to do so with
our Facebook page. And don’t forget,
our 10-year reunion is coming up on
May 20, 21, and 22! Make sure to
update your contact information so we
can get the event details to you. You
can easily do this on Regis’ website,
www.regiscollege.edu. And if anyone is
interested in helping to plan reunion
events, we’d love to have your help!

notes

a Master of Public Administration
and a Master of Science in Political
Science from Suffolk. She is happy
to report that she has finally found a
job in her field. She started working,
at the beginning of 2011, as a Fiscal
Policy Analyst for the State Senate
Ways & Means Committee. Carole
reports that “it is busy work but I love
it so far!” ¶ Lauren Iorio got engaged
to Michael Sorrentino in Oct. of 2010,
and they are planning the wedding for
Nov. 5, 2011. Her maid of honor, Jen
DeSimone, got engaged to Bill Yelenak
on Dec. 17, 2010. Lauren will be a
bridesmaid in Jen’s wedding during
the summer of 2012. Congrats ladies!
¶ Please continue to send updates
to regis2003@gmail.com. You can
also post your class notes on www.
registowertalk.net if you prefer. Submit
any information you wish to share and
I’ll see that it makes it in next time.
Wishing everyone all the best!

48

2005

REGIS TODAY

✒ Christina Aprea, aprea.christina@
gmail.com ¶ Carla Trodella reports that
she’ll be doing the Boston Marathon
for Access Sport America this year!
She’s really looking forward to it, as
she just completed a half marathon in
October. Best of luck Carla! ¶ Michele
Peterson checked in after returning
from her Disney World / Disney Cruise
Honeymoon this February. Her humor
is still intact as she said that some
crazy fool married her — a very smart
man if you ask me — and I would agree
with her in saying they had a rockin’
wedding. They are living happily in
Hudson, Mass. with their two beagles.
¶ Lauren Pullia is currently pursuing her master’s in special education
while teaching at a private boarding
school for students with disabilities
on Cape Cod. She will be returning
to Regis to speak at an alumni night
to share what she does for a living.
We look forward to seeing her back
on campus! ¶ Fabien Haiti Guerrier
’06 is currently getting her master’s
in Exercise Sciences. She will be
graduating in June 2011. Good Luck
Fabien! ¶ Fabiola Guerrier Jacques is
currently in grad school getting her
master’s in public administration. She
married, and will have a big party
sometime in August to celebrate. She
reports that she is so blessed and God
is good. ¶ Mandy Fleming welcomed
her 3rd nephew, Kody Dean, born Feb.
6, 2011! Erin Gettens finished her M.A.
in School Psychology at Tufts last summer. She has started a small business
related to psychology and education,
working with children and families.
She’s doing some writing and photography work on the side, and traveling
as far and as frequently as possible!
She’s still living in (and loving!)
Davis Square in Somerville, Mass.

Great to hear from you Erin! ¶ Caitlin
Connelly is married, working at Lasell

and enjoying life with her son Colin
Comeau. ¶ Kemi Akinribido is traveling around the world: Japan, Greece,
Germany, and then this summer it’s
Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and Sweden!
We can’t wait to hear all about your
travels Kemi! ¶ Nicole Kanelos
graduated from Lesley in 2009 with
a Master’s in Expressive Therapies
with a Specialization in Mental Health
Counseling. She is currently working
at an Early Intervention facility in
the Boston area and loves it! She also
works with children with special needs
on the weekends. In her “other” life,
it’s still her passion to dabble in guitar,
singing, writing and theater. She
sends good wishes to all old friends. ¶
As for me, I’m still at Regis. I did get
engaged in September, and am aiming
for a Sept. 2012 wedding, but just
enjoying the engagement for now. I am
busy with events, and really looking
forward to the upcoming Reunion, as
so many of our friends from 2006 will
be there. Please keep in touch and
make sure you friend us on Facebook
to keep updated with events!

2006 5th Reunion Class

✒ Erin Campbell, erin.campbell@yahoo.
com ¶ Hello ’06ers! This May will
mark our 1st Reunion as a class. I still
can’t believe it will be 5 years since we
caused endless shenanigans at Regis.
We all had an unforgettable experience
at Regis so I can only anticipate our
Reunion to be—dare I say—legendary.
I am happy to report on a number of
incredible accomplishments and good
news from our classmates in this PreReunion edition of Class Notes. One
of my former roommates, Angelina
Rosa, is now working for UGL Unicco
after working as a lab technician in
the STD clinic. Angie started in Oct.
2010 and supervises 21 technicians
that do maintenance for 380 Stop and
Shops in the northeast. After work,
she is in mom mode. Her handsome
2-year-old boy, Amir Emari, keeps her
busy and on her toes. In between work
and Amir, Angie is planning on going
back to school for Nursing or anything
in the Medical/Healthcare field since
that is her passion. Good luck Angie! ¶
Jackie Gentile is working in administration for InterSystems Corporation,
a Cambridge software development
company and writes for the Dorchester
Reporter newspaper as a freelancer.
She maintains her Regis ties teaching the Women’s Self-Defense and
Intro to Martial Arts courses at Regis.
Jackie and her wife, a fellow alumna
(2004), tied the knot in the Boston
Public Garden on December 30, 2010.
¶ Heidi Gomez is still working in Abu
Dhabi but now with 3 to 7 year olds.
She says, “it’s a new experience and

I love it.” She had the opportunity
to travel to Barcelona, Spain for her
winter break. It was actually colder
in Spain than in Abu Dhabi during
the break but she still misses the New
England cold. Maybe no one told her
how much snow we had this winter.
Heidi will be home in April, bypassing a New England winter completely,
and she couldn’t be more excited to
reconnect with everyone! ¶ Caitlin
Clark Seaman and her husband Matt
closed on a house this past December
in North Brookfield, Mass. and moved
in Jan. 2011. ¶ Lisa Crowley had a
recent change of scenery as she moved
from Framingham, Mass. to Plymouth,
Mass. with fellow Regis alum Lauren
Pullia ’05. Remember Lisa, life is a
beach. Bad joke. ¶ Anyways, Kimberly
Luciani and her fiancé have settled
into a gorgeous loft in East Boston.
Kimberly is still at EF in Cambridge
as a Senior Accountant and is planning
her destination wedding for Aug. 2011
in Mexico. ¶ Nicole Messuri has compiled a long list of athletic accomplishments since college and continues to
add to her list. In Jan. 2011, Nicole ran
Disney’s full marathon and finished
with a time of 3 hours 28 minutes.
Quite the accomplishment! In her professional world, Nicole is enjoying her
recent promotion at MIT as Operations
Supervisor in addition to coaching
5th grade girls basketball. ¶ Colleen
Hill Lanata completed her 1st marathon in Chicago in Oct. 2010. Despite
the weather being unusually hot for
the season, she finished with great
time. ¶ Veronica Coles is studying for
her master’s in Nursing at UMass
Dartmouth and will finish next fall. ¶
Nicole Mancini is keeping herself busy
with wedding plans and is getting married on Nov. 11, 2011. Congratulations
Nicole and all the best! ¶ Melissa
Gonzalez is tying the knot on July
23, 2011. ¶ Taryn Face is now an aunt
and godmother! Her nephew/godson
Bennett was born in Aug. 2010. Taryn
also graduated with her master’s in
Leadership & Organizational Change
this past May 2010. Congratulations!
¶ As for me, Erin Campbell, I’m still
doing the work thing, the Arlington
living and part time basketball coaching. This spring I will continue to
coach for the Mass Huskies AAU organization. The organization was started
almost 3 years ago with just 2 teams
and has grown throughout 3 regions of
Massachusetts at all levels. In addition
to my 8th grade team, I am completely
ecstatic to be a co-coach of our “Elite
Team” this spring, which is combining
talent from our two 9th grade teams
to compete at a higher level of play. I
am still not accustomed to just being
on the sideline, so I am still playing
basketball 2 to 4 times a week. I am
looking forward to seeing everyone
in May to celebrate and reconnect.

class
Maybe, just maybe, some of us will get
our side-door keys back.

2007

✒ Sarah and Leah Boniface,

sboniface17@yahoo.com, LBoniface16@
yahoo.com ¶ Can you believe we’ve

patients. ¶ Megan O’Donnell is still
teaching in Everett, Mass. for the 4th
year and coaching soccer, ice hockey,
and softball. Her soccer team was
the first team in Everett High School
history to make the tournament, but
lost in the quarterfinals. She has
an 18-month-old niece, MaryGrace
who is awesome. ¶ In the past year,
Kelly Crawford got a new job at the
American Career Institute as their
Education Coordinator. She still
sees her college roommate, Jessica
McClanahan, on an almost weekly
basis. ¶ Mary Jo Oliveira was in a
terribly bad car accident in August
coming home from vacation. Her leg
was cut off by a guard rail in the
accident leaving her an amputee. She
was rushed to Hartford Hospital where
she was treated. After that she went
to Spaulding Rehab for occupational
and physical therapy. We are glad to
hear that Mary Jo is fine now and will
be going back to work soon. Mary Jo
reports that she is still enjoying life
and is still in school.

program at Johns Hopkins University,
right after graduation, in their
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program.
She graduated in Dec. 2009, and has
been practicing as a PNP in a pediatric
primary care practice in Baltimore,
Md. She and her fiancé plan to marry
in the fall. She hopes everyone has
been doing well, and is excited to
hear what people are up to now. ¶
Abigail Kuzia sends her hellos from
Boston. For the last 2 years she’s been
working at Rue La La supervising the
Experiences/Travel and Local product
copy and recently went on a 2-week
trip to England, the Netherlands,
and Belgium, she’s hoping to go back
sometime soon! ¶ Kendra Morgado
Ryan admits that the past few years
have definitely been busy. She married her high-school sweetheart on
Oct. 12, 2008. She then enrolled in an
accelerated BSN graduate program
at the MGH Institute in Boston, and
graduated in July of 2010. She is now
working as an RN on a telemetry unit
at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River.

2008

2009

✒ Sarah Giannetta, sarahg_316@
yahoo.com ✒ Laura Garrity-Arquitt,

lauragarrity@museumofrussianicons.
org ¶ Amanda Heroux was recently

engaged to Christopher Lynch.
She is living in North Carolina
and works as a nurse for Durham
Regional Hospital. ¶ Surrounded
by close family and friends, Sandy
Lopes Coffin married the “love of her
life,” James Coffin, on Nov 9, 2010
in Punta Cana in the Dominican
Republic. ¶ Jenna Ciaramella
received her master’s in Science in
Human Resource Management from
Emmanuel College in May 2010.
She now works in Tewskbury, Mass.
for Raytheon’s Human Resources
Employee Relations group. ¶ After
taking her boards, Mardochee Val
worked in Massachusetts for a year
before moving to Rochester, N.Y.
where she works as a nurse in the
Heart Failure and Transplant Stepdown Unit. However, Mardochee
misses the city life and plans to move
to Philadelphia to work at Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital’s Neuro
ICU. ¶ Isobo Erekeosima moved back
to Connecticut after graduation, where
she began working at Yale New Haven
Hospital on a general medicine floor.
She has been there for over two years
and hopes to work in the MICU soon.
¶ After graduating, Amanda Beaulieu
went to Rhode Island College for Grad
School. After 2 years of studying there,
she graduated with a Master of Arts
in English. Two days after she earned
this degree she went to a friend’s
wedding and met “Stephen Smith, the
wonderful man she is now engaged to.”
¶ Mary Rachael Begg started a MSN

✒ Hillary Mosher, hillary.mosher@regis
college.edu ¶ Alex Kluchnick currently
lives in East Cambridge, Mass. She
works at Mount Auburn Hospital as a
nurse’s assistant on the post surgical
unit. She also began nursing school
in January through the Lawrence
Memorial Hospital/Regis College
program. ¶ Nicole Yaneff recently
moved to Philadephia after obtaining
an RN position at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania. She is now
enrolled in the Adult Health Clinical
Nurse Specialist graduate program
at the University of Pennsylvania. ¶
Mavet Benitez was recently engaged,
and is working in Needham managing
a store. ¶ LeeJane Villafuerte reached
her one-year anniversary in October
with CyberGrants, Inc. as an Account
Manager. She also became a homeowner in October. ¶ Victoria Dunham
has been working as a Veterinary
Technician since graduation. She
was engaged in August, and will be
getting married on June 11, 2011.
¶ Monique Colarossi completed her
master’s degree in English Literature
at Simmons College. ¶ Darleny Javier
recently began working as Assistant
Property Manager for Northland
Investment Corporation, where she
helps oversee one of their luxury community apartment homes in Quincy,
Mass. Through her new job, she has
met many great new people, including
Anne McDonald ’56. During their conversations, they discovered they were
both part of the Student Government
Association, and share some of the
same interests. Their conversations
always being her back to Regis, and
some of the great memories she still

49
SPRING 11

officially been out of Regis for as long
as we were there?! It seems like we
just graduated yesterday, yet there
are so many exciting things happening for the Class of 2007, just 4 short
years later. ¶ Marrissa Gondola met
her handsome boyfriend Michael at
the Senior Black Tie dance at Regis on
May 17, 2007 and got engaged on the
beach to him in Nov. 2010. A wedding is planned for 2011, and Kristyn
Gondola ’12 is scheduled to be in the
wedding party along with older sister
Kerrie and older brother Bobby, among
others. ¶ Estefania Von Hausen Larrain
welcomed her new baby girl Aylen
Marie to her family on Jan. 8. Aylen
joins her big brother Lir, and Estefania
could not be happier! ¶ Elsbeth Clifford
just received her 2nd promotion in 2
years. She is now a Case Manager for
disabled adults at Work Incorporated
in Dorchester, Mass. During the holidays she had the pleasure of getting
together with Marrissa and Estefania
for their annual Regis Christmas
Yankee Swap Brunch. They have it
every year in Hingham, Mass. This
year Melinda Rondeau ’06, Colleen
Collarusso ’06, Ashley Villandry ’08,
Kim Barrett , Elsa Martinez , Estefania
Von Hausen, Meg Delaney ’06, Liz
Aiello, and Kate Daley were all in
attendance. It was a great time!
Elsbeth will be traveling to Europe for
the ski trip of a lifetime for 2 weeks
in the month of February where she
will be visiting Italy, France, and
Switzerland. Life is good! ¶ Beth
Kaleta traveled to the Northern Coast
of the Dominican Republic this past
summer where she devoted 1 month as
a volunteer math teacher with the nonprofit, The Mariposa DR Foundation.
She accompanied Boston Public school
teachers and assisted with a summer
camp devoted to providing quality
education to young, impoverished
girls. As if that has not kept her busy
enough, she has also decided to try out
for the Boston Women’s Professional
Tackle Football team, The Boston
Militia. The season starts in April and
she hopes to see you at a home game!
¶ Erin Gilmore graduated in May ’09
with her master’s of arts in Medical
Sciences from Boston University. She
is currently working as a Clinical
Research Coordinator in the Division
of Infectious Disease at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital. She works primarily with patients undergoing stem-cell
transplants and conducts research
using different drugs to prevent
diseases in immuno-compromised

notes

50
REGIS TODAY

holds. She plans to join a book club
that Anne is a part of in the near
future to continue their new friendship. ¶ Kim Mariotti is working as the
Assistant to the Athletic Director at
Lake Erie College. Her responsibilities include directing the day-to-day
administration for the Director of
Athletics, and providing administrative support to head coaches and staff.
She is also continuing to work towards
her master’s degree in Education, and
plans to graduate in May. She still
participates in her previous graduate
assistant roles, volunteering her time
in facilities and with game management until the end of this academic
year. She also continues to oversee
the Intramural program, and remains
the co-advisor of the Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee (SAAC). The new
position has offered her some great
opportunities, such as traveling to San
Antonio, Tex. to represent Lake Erie
at the NCAA National Convention
and to Indianapolis, Ind. to work the
NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four
Basketball Tournament. ¶ Jenna
Cappello moved to Boston recently,
and currently works as an educator,
historical researcher, and PR assistant
for the USS Constitution Museum.
Specifically, she is currently researching and designing new educational
programs relating to the use of medicine during the War of 1812, investigating how families learn together in
a museum setting, as well as participating in many successful fundraising
campaigns. ¶ Alysia duFrend has been
working as a program specialist at
The May Institute, an award-winning
nonprofit organization that provides
educational, rehabilitative, and behavioral healthcare services to individuals
with autism spectrum disorders and
other developmental disabilities, brain
injury, mental illness, and behavioral
health needs. She has been there
since August of 2009 and loves it. She
plans on taking her GRE in 2011,
and applying to master’s in Medical
Sciences programs. ¶ Omayra Cruz is
the Human Resources Coordinator for
the Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge.
She handles recruiting, employee
events, benefits, and worker’s compensation. ¶ Adam Finelli is living in
Boston, Mass., and is starting a small
business. This past July, he participated in the Atlantic Acting School’s
summer program in New York, N.Y.
¶ Jocelyn Yabut is working at 7News
as their Creative Services Promotions
Coordinator. ¶ Hillary Mosher recently
spent time with Kassandra R. Kernes
when she flew out from Oklahoma for
a 10-day visit. It was great to catch up
and reminisce, and there were many
laughs and good times! Kassandra is
currently working at a photography
studio in Edmond, Okla. as a fashion
consultant and marketing professional.

She also heads the studio’s annual
fashion show as a marketing event
every April. In addition, she traveled
with the studio to SPA (Senior Portrait
Artists) convention in Palm Springs,
Calif., in February, where she assisted
with their fashion show. She continues
to do freelance work in marketing for
television shows, along with freelance
publicity for Ink Media Corporation.
¶ Class of 2009! Please send along
updates about what is going on in your
lives. It’s great to hear from all of you!

2010

✒ Shannon Tonelli, stone084@regis
college.edu ✒ Alanna DelRose,
adelr804@regiscollege.edu ¶ Julie
Gallagher moved to Florence, Italy
after graduation and has been teaching
English as a 2nd language after taking
a TEFL course in October! ¶ Leigh
Handschuh continues to work at SBH
Sciences as a data analyst/bioassay
assistant and also works as a nanny
nights and weekends. She hoped to
hear back from graduate schools by
the end of February so she could begin
her work in a public administration
program (fingers crossed) this fall.
She was already looking forward to
summer, which will hopefully include
some mini reunions with her Regis
family and also some exciting travels.
Leigh can be contacted at lhand447@
gmail.com. Olivia Kusz works at The
MathWorks in Natick, Mass. as a
Customer Service Coordinator and
will be getting married next May.
¶ Maria Mendes says, “Hello 2010!”
Before graduating, she was fortunate
to have secured a job in her hometown,
the City of Champions aka Brockton,
Mass., as a program coordinator for
Communities Mobilizing for Change on
Alcohol (CMCA), a program of Health
Imperatives. Health Imperatives is a
nonprofit health and human service
organization that has been serving
communities statewide since 1976.
The goal of her program, CMCA, is to
decrease underage alcohol use by promoting good behaviors through marketing and outreach and by decreasing
the availability of alcohol to youth in
Brockton by changing community policies and practices. Also, since graduating she took a couple of sign language
courses and is now in the beginning
steps of obtaining her masters. She
hopes to have her MS from Regis
College by May 2012. If you would
like to learn more about her program,
please visit www.healthimperatives.org
or you may contact her through email
mamendes@healthimperatives.org or
phone 508-583-2250 Ext. 215. ¶ Maria
Pino works as a paraprofessional at
Wakefield High School. She went away
to Mexico in April to see the Mayans
and celebrate her birthday. ¶ Meg
Roan works full time at Walker-Clay,

Inc. in Hanson, Mass. and plays
soccer with fellow alums Jamie Folan
’07 and Mandy Roan ’08. ¶ Andrea
LoPilato Sheldon lives in Andover,
Mass. with her husband David and
dog Sam. She works as a 5th grade
elementary school teacher for the
Danvers Public Schools. She was
also working towards her MEd. at
Framingham State University. ¶
Shannon Tonelli finished up a semester
of graduate classes at Regis College
this past fall. She is working towards
her master’s degrees in Special
Education and Elementary Education.
During her extra semester at Regis
she worked as a graduate assistant
for the Education Department and
served as a resident assistant in
Domitilla Hall. When needed, she
substitute taught at the Woodland
Elementary School in Weston, Mass.
In December, Shannon moved home
to spend time with family and friends
before departing for Peru. On Mar.
16 she headed to Cajamarca, Peru
to begin her 10-month journey as a
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.
¶ Class of 2010, we want to know what
is going on in your life! Please send
your updates to your class reporters
so that we can all keep in touch. Good
luck in all you future endeavors!

class
To all of the classes who did not submit
notes, please contact your reporter so
we can keep you connected through
Regis Today!

celebrate {Regis}
with an Annual Fund Gift
As President Mary Jane England ’59, M.D.
prepares to move on to new challenges this
summer, we reflect back on her 10 years and
celebrate all that she’s accomplished. Join us in
giving to the 2010–2011 Annual Fund.
Together, we celebrate {Regis}: past, present
and future.

How to Give
online www.registowertalk.net/annualfund
Phone 781.768.7239
Mail Use

Endowed Scholarship Fund
IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT MARY JANE ENGLAND ’59, M.D.
Like the Sisters of St. Joseph, Mary Jane England ’59,
M.D., is a woman who is often ahead of the times. She
pursued medicine when women were just beginning
to break into the field. She chose a specialty, psychiatry, that had been dominated by men. In government,
business, and academe, she has stood out nationally
as an innovative leader. Medicine, public health, and
education have all benefited from her vision, and so,
especially, has Regis.
To honor Dr. England’s achievements in health and
in positioning Regis for the 21st century, as well as to
celebrate her 10-year presidency at Regis College, we
are pleased to have established:
THE PRESIDENT MARY JANE ENGLAND ’59, M.D.,
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND
In keeping with Dr. England’s lifework and her allimportant focus on the advancement and well-being

of students, this endowed scholarship will be given to
Regis College students who are innovative leaders in
the School of Nursing, Science, and Health Professions.
As the end of Dr. England's presidency draws near,
we celebrate the milestones of the past decade and
honor her achievements. We hope all alumni, friends,
and supporters will continue to join us at special Regis
events throughout the year to commemorate Dr. England’s service and rejoice in Regis’s future.
For more information about this special tribute
campaign, please contact Miriam Finn Sherman ’98,
Chief Development Officer, at 781.768.7222 or
Miriam.Sherman@regiscollege.edu.
To give online, please go to:
www.registowertalk.net/celebrateleadership

Regis College

Nonprofit Org
U.S. Postage

235 Wellesley Street
Weston, MA 02493-1571

PAID

Weston, MA
Permit No. 53037

Change Service Requested

TOWER TALK

Regis Online has a New Look
New and Improved Features
* See news and events
* Register online for events
* See photos of your friends
* Update your profile
* Submit or read class notes